I stole time yesterday to take a walk and enjoy the unseasonably warm January weather.
Just as I was exiting the park, I noticed a man with his son; a young boy I estimated to be four or five years old. They were lying on their backs, both with their hands clasped behind their heads and both of them staring up at sky. The young boy was wearing his father's baseball cap.
It was a quiet and tender moment and, though I could not make out what the two were saying, I imagined dad was passing along one of the many life lessons he hopes to impart on his son before becoming a man.
The scene shined and I couldn't help but smile at the simplicity and beauty of that moment.
Unable to resist, I called out to the father and pointed saying, "I wish I had a camera. That's the best."
He smiled back and then I was gone.
It's Friday and I am wondering if each of us could steal some time for an interaction as special as the one I saw yesterday.
Shining off until...
There will always be something else you could or should be doing, or
legtimate reasons for not risking the unknown, or
circumstances more conducive to trying something new.
Always.
But...
shining requires us to see excuses for what they are and to tackle them.
Fears,
Complacency,
Our ego,
and whatever else is getting in our way.
My walk - the one I talked about yesterday - was more than a year in the making. My decision to finally follow the path was actually a decision to face the fear of the unknown and to reject the comfort that comes with status quo.
On my walk, there were no bells and whistles.
No earth shattering discoveries.
No fated meetings.
It was a simple afternoon walk with Heather and her girls and it was filled with the sense of adventure (and satisfaction) you only get when you're in unchartered waters.
There was a peaceful swing
An imposing tree house
An inviting hammock
And at the very end of our walk a handwritten, but prophetic, message reading, "Where to now?"
I don't know about you, but I can hardly wait to find out.
Shining off until...
Years ago, during one of my regular walks through Parr Park, I spotted a path in my periphery; a long path leading to I didn't know where.
For months on end, I continued noticing the path, but kept on moving.
After a year or so of doing this, I went from just noticing the path to anticipating it. Winter, summer, spring, and fall, I peered around the corner where the path sits and breathed an ever so small sigh of relief, because the path was still there and looked as inviting as it did yesterday.
Evenutally I began entertaining the idea of detouring from my familiar and well traveled path, so I could follow this new one - the path I'd been watching from afar for so long.
But not today.
Today I am busy following the status quo.
And not tomorrow
Because tomorrow I have a meeting scheduled right after my walk and the path might lead me somewhere that I'm not prepared to go.
Oh, and not next week either.
Next week it's supposed to rain, so the conditions won't be right.
But eventually my curiousity about what lay at the other end of that path grew
and grew
and grew
until eventually not taking the path became more distracting than deciding to do just do it.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about my adventure, but today I have a question for you:
What path have you been eyeing from afar, wondering about, and trying to muster up the courage to take?
Tomorrow already begins the second month of a brand new year. Time is ticking. I say take the path.
Shining off until..