14 March 2012
Like a Leaf in the Wind
For several years, I have felt as if I am constantly trapped in a complex world in the midst of a never-ending battle to balance all the diverse responsibilities of life. It seems as if what was once a relaxing, invigorating life has now become an exhausting time of rushing around, filled with stress and an infinitely long to do list. The opportunities to simply sit down and breathe, knowing there is nothing I must go do or take care of or think about are becoming rare jewels in my memory, not events of the present or even the future. I try to plan my future in such a way that someday, I will be able to have times of relaxation without guilt or a demanding time frame, but sometimes I wonder if it will ever be less stressful and fast-paced than it is now. If such is the case, I sometimes wonder how I will ever manage to keep up and quite frankly, what is the point of the constant flurry? There is something about this rushed, stressful pace that just feels wrong. Is this really how life is supposed to be? Are we really supposed to go through life frazzled and pressed until we can't even keep up anymore? It seems like that would be a horrible waste of the one life we have. Is this how we are supposed to spend it? Is there any other option? Or is it just a matter of perspective? There is a point to life, and I think it often gets lost in the constant demands of each day, until finally we realize that we spent our whole lives worrying about things that didn't even matter. Higher priorities can easily get lost in the midst of the tangible responsibilities that life presents, but that does not make them less important. Perhaps the only way we will be able to stay on focus is if we consistently stop to analyze how we are spending our time and energy and what we are worrying about, taking time to make the necessary adjustments. This always sounds much simpler than it is, but it is worth trying. I don't have all the answers and I don't have enough experience or wisdom to offer a definitive solution, but I have to deal with the realities I face daily. I don't want to spend my life running around and stressed about things that won't even matter in the end, while forgetting to focus on the important things that life is all about. I don't want to waste this one life. Each day, we need to slow down for a moment and just breathe, so that the days don't get blurred in the flurry of our lives. Remember, there is a meaning to life. It's time we acted like it.
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Very true - and something I have been thinking about a lot over these past few months. We get so caught up in preparations for tomorrow, forgetting that tomorrow may never even come. All we ever have is today.
ReplyDeleteMatthew 6:25-34
I can't help but think of that Family Circus comic when the older sister is instructing her little brother that "Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." :)
I remember that cartoon.
DeleteYou are right, Melissa. Too much time and energy wasted on things that in the end won't matter.
I think one man has something of an answer. This is a book I've started recently, having been given it by a professor. If you'd like to borrow when I'm done, that might be able to be arranged. :)
ReplyDelete"The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Sabbath"
by Mark Buchanan
What I like is that he isn't really defining Sabbath as a day to be filled with legalistic principles and rules - but rather a mindset, a perspective that God meant us to have, one that might save us from this meaningless flurrying about, as you put it. :) Now of course the application is always the trickiest part, but he has suggestions in that direction as well.