The Eclectic Chalkboard

NO ONE IS USELESS IN THE WORLD WHO LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF IT FOR ANYONE ELSE.

CHARLES DICKENS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atlas_New_York.JPG

Atlas was tired. Very tired. And in a moment of either supreme strength or weakness, he shrugs. And the world … goes on.

Oh, not the metaphorical Atlas of the Ayn Rand novel by the same name, but the mythological Atlas Telamon, who, as punishment for supporting the Titans against the Olympians, was made to hold up the heavens.

There is of course, no mention of Atlas really shrugging, but in terms of what the phrase means to those enduring souls who feel the weight of the worlds upon their shoulders, perhaps it’s time these Atlases shrug.

How many of us know someone who carries the weight of their world. Day in and day out, they prevail. Yet every day they grow more and more weary. For the weight of their real worries is as heavy as the imagined weight of the heavens.

And it is time to let them shrug. In fact, to encourage them to shrug. To let the weight of the world roll off their shoulders. To let them stand straight once again. To let them run. And dance. And do cartwheels.

Let them feel the warmth of the sun upon their shoulders. Let them twist and turn. Wiggle and giggle. Walk and talk. All unencumbered by their former burden.

For the world will indeed, go on.