Taking the New Way (December 20th)
December 20 – Taking the New Way: Take a few moments to envision your normal routines, noting all the routes you normally travel – to work, to school, to the store, to the gas station, to church, to the post office, to the park, to home, etc. … Today, whether you “have to” or not, go to each of these afore-mentioned places (and as many more of your “usuals” as you wish), and do so by taking a route you have never before taken … Go slowly and look around while doing so. Note that the longer and the more “roundabout” the path chosen, the better.
So often in my life, I find myself looking to take the route that is wide & smooth & straight. after all, I want to “get done” faster so that I can “do more”. Or I want to be “on time” (better stated, I want to avoid the consequences of “being late”). Or I simply want to complete the task at hand so I can move on to something else — something that I would rather be doing. Yep, if left to our non-thinking selves, we instinctively choose what seems to be the most direct route …
… or the easiest one.
Of course, sometimes what looks to be the best way turns out to be the most difficult.
And yet, we often struggle to reach our original goal anyway, rather than look for another path.
Sometimes the only route present is one that is less than direct, & yet even then we seem to travel along it as quickly as possible.
And sometimes, despite our best efforts, we are forced to turn back and seek another way, yet we do so reluctantly, and with a sense of frustration.
Rarely does life itself make the “best choice” clear.
For the most part, if we are going to take an alternate route, we are going to have to pause and choose to do so.
How often, when asked to do a small favor, do we hear ourselves explain that we can’t because we have “more important things to do” or that we are “late for an appointment”? Sometimes this is indeed the case, and yet more often than not these whisperings are simply the ego encouraging us to avoid intimate contact with others, or look away from an opportunity to courageously care for another; or refuse to soak-up the wonders of the Here&Now.
In order to experience life Purpose-fully & Joy-fully, it is always necessary to pause and choose the action or route that is most Meaning-full & most Joy-filled.
And this path is almost never the most efficient one.
I experienced this Truth tonight, when I chose to walk in the dark through the woods to my apartment instead of straight there. I took my little camera with me and “randomly” took some photos in the dark. Here are some of the wonders I rediscovered – things I would not have been able to enJoy had I walked straight home:
... and what lies within us can only be known when we deeply connect with what is around us.
To revere Life, it is always necessary to slow down.
Even in your darkest hour, there is always Wonder available
In short then, when in doubt, it is always a good idea to slow down and take a “longer way”.
See You when I see you …
… and until then, Be Now!
Scaughdt
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