Punctuation Marks

Life can get in a rut; don't you agree?  Someone once defined a rut as "a grave with both ends open".  : 0)  The sameness of each day that yawns in repeated fashion.  Much of life is a necessary routine; indeed, without it we would lack structure and meaning.  But sometimes that sameness can seem like we're on a treadmill, plodding along, focusing straight ahead and missing things along the way.  In the morning, you get up, go to work, come home, go to bed.  In the morning, you get up. . . You get the idea.  Each day is like shampooing your hair:  lather, rinse, repeat.  It occurs to me we could all do with a bit of punctuation in a life that threatens to become one long, run-on sentence.

Families can get in a rut. Wouldn't it be great to have some fun and lively ideas to break out of boredom and sameness?  You know it. Like bread that turns dry, hard, and stale if not properly stored, so couples and families that aren't wrapped in fun and joy get stale, hard and dry, too.  Surprise your mate; make plans for a romantic dinner or get-away, even a short one.  For ideas on spicing up family life, I recommend the small book, "199 Fun Family Activities", by Barbour Publishing, Inc., 2009.  You'll find oodles of wholesome ideas there. 

I love the scripture in John 10:10 where Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!" (NIV) 

I like to think of a full life as having punctuation marks.  The exclamation point can symbolize "party time!"  A period says "stop here".  I like to think of it as meaning ,"stop, get off the treadmill, and do something different".  Perhaps for you, that means stopping to make time for others, like keeping your promise to visit that neighbor you befriended.  A question mark may symbolize learning something new, like taking painting or piano lessons.  Carving out an afternoon or an evening for something fun for yourself can be symbolized by brackets or parentheses.  The apostrophe shows your ownership and responsiblity to break out of your rut.  Punctuation marks that may seldom be used, such as the ellipsis and dash, can symbolize the surprising, the unusual and interesting things in life.

I wrote a poem today that I hope will bring a smile to your face and help you think of the importance of punctuating your life instead of living it in one long, "run-on sentence" that loses meaning.

      Punctuation of Life

Exclamation points are "Wow!"
Fun times make good glue.
Stop the run-on sentence now;
Put a period, too.

Semi-colon, hyphen, dash --
Parentheses and comma,
Apostrophes and question marks
Will add a punch of drama.

Brackets and quotation marks
Make merry out of life.
The colon and ellipsis too
Will help to sound the fife.

So on the treadmill of the same,
Don't forget to party.
As you step from day to day,
Please live hale and hearty!

Copyright © 2011 Elaine Beachy