Yesterday, I felt the need to leave my laptop and go take a walk. It’s been a while since I took a walk just to be walking, and yesterday’s walk was more than refreshing. Being outside reminded me of how much I love the outdoors. I always pictured myself living on a ranch with horses, in a ranch-style home with rocking chairs on the porch, and being able to walk outside and ride my horse for hours. Well, I didn’t have a horse to ride yesterday, but my two feet took me around the trail several times. I felt like a different person. I probably had a smile on my face the entire time as I inhaled the fresh air, felt the sun warming my skin, and listened to the birds around me sing.
Life is a gift – a blessing - a treasure that gets buried under
the life we create around it. As we’re busy raising children and grandchildren,
serving our spouse, building a career, enlarging our ministry, and accumulating
more stuff, the simple joy of life itself creeps by. It’s easy to get lost in
life by not taking time to “smell the roses.” I don’t want to work so hard that
I don’t have time to enjoy the beauty of life itself. Although I love to write,
sometimes I need to look up over my laptop and realize life is passing by. I
don’t want my labor to consume my life.
When I’m on my deathbed, I don’t think
I’ll say, “Dang, I wish I had written one more book.” Hermitville (my
apartment) is my favorite place, but I need to venture outside of Hermitville a
little more often. No, I’m not going to start being a social butterfly, yet I
will enjoy the beauty of a butterfly, stop to smell the roses, and simply enjoy
life itself.
