Walls

I am continuing to read speeches, and I have read something said by Ronald Reagan that got me thinking.  It is a famous quote, said one time he visited Berlin, before the wall came down.  He said “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
I stood where an assassination attempt was made on his life.  It is a non-descript place.  Nothing special.  It was what happened there that made it a landmark, not anything in itself.  That has nothing to do with anything really.  Just thought I would put it there.
It amazes me the implication of things.  East and West Berlin were divided by a wall.  The East was communist, and the West was well Western.  I say implications because eventually there was no longer an East German postal service and a West German one.  Stamps were again just German.  East German and West German stamps were consigned to history.
Anyway, the wall did come down.  It got me thinking though.   As far as I can see there can be two types of walls.  Physical ones like this one, and personal ones I erect to protect myself.
Physical ones are everywhere.  I wanted to make two rooms one.  Once we established the wall between both was not load bearing, we demolished it and made one room.  That sort of thing happens in houses everywhere.  We watch some of those re-modelling a home shows, and often the new plan involves getting rid of a wall to “open the place up.”
The wall between East and West Berlin had implications for more people than a home wall does.  One side posted guards, and to try to traverse it meant a person faced death.  Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the Mexican boarder, to keep people out.
I put up walls to protect myself.  Sometimes what goes up is seen as necessary due to habitual bad experiences.  At other times I put a wall up because I have been sensitive in an area and exposed it, only to be ridiculed.   I think to myself “I won’t do that again.”  It really was not worth it.  The trouble is, it can be more than me that suffers, because of both what I do and don’t do.
Yet often I need to deal with the walls I have put up.  It really needs to be a safe environment, but it cannot be fixed without a revisit.
Merril was a nurse.  When I cut myself, the cut needs to be dealt with.  So often fixing the wound involves cleaning, applying ointment, and covering it.  I have noticed though, as I have gotten older, the healing is slower.  I am now more cautious than I have ever been.
If I do not deal with a wall, then my potential can never be reached.  Opening up can be painful and may need a clean.  What I do may not happen as quickly as I would like.  But for me, how fast it happens, matters less than it actually happening.
Getting rid of walls has for me been a thing I could not take lightly.  I never dealt with a wall in a home without first knowing the cost.  If I could afford it and the time was right, I would do it. I reckon I need to do the same with my personal walls.  Comes a time when it is right.  I need to strike while the iron is hot.