The Journey

Over the weekend, I read a book called “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.  It is the story of a man and his son, walking in a post apocalyptic world, which must have been the result of a nuclear bomb.  The entire book is set in scenery of gray ash and them walking through it.  There’s no color other than the gray of the day and the utter blackness of night.  There is no plant life, animal life, and very little human life.  Of the human life left, some are “good” meaning they haven’t turned to being cannibals.  The “bad” have.  I have no earthly idea why I continued to read this book, other than to say that once I start something I do try to finish.  This book left me feeling sad, depressed and what I took away from this book was the feeling of utter hopelessness.  I then went on to equate this to anyone living today, who lives without the hope of knowing that God exists and He loves and cares for each of us.  We need to turn from this abject hopelessness to Him and ask His forgiveness and be welcomed into His world.  I wonder if that book was a description of hell?  I certainly DON’T want to find out!

From there, I went to reading our bible study “Breaking Free, the journey of the stories” by Beth Moore.  In Week 9, day 2 we are learning about how to go about demolishing strongholds.  “When we try to break a stronghold of our own strength, we wind up feeling powerless and totally defeated.” Boy, if this didn’t sound like the book I just read.  In thinking about the strongholds in my own life….I realized that I’m generally surrounded by a “fear” of the unknown.  Giving into fear, is pride rationalizing my desire to try.  Thing is, is the fear one of failure, OR one of success?  Any area in life where I feel I might be tested and not fare well, is an area I let Satan into and he deceives me into giving up before I try, usually by convincing me I can’t do it…..whatever it represents.  But fear of failure?   The Song “the Rose” has a line in it……about being “so afraid of dying, we never learn to live”.  If that isn’t an eye opener.  I don’t think I’m afraid of dying…..but, am I really living?…. abundantly?  If not, why not?  Success, means stepping out and maybe having to change, which then might alter the “safety net” I’ve grown accustomed to.  I’m now seeing a pattern of excuses.  I either want to or I don’t want to, but by giving an excuse, I’ve allowed myself to whine about wanting something, BUT wanting it without doing any work to get it.  Wow!  Or maybe better stated as “ouch!”

Which leads me to my next thought.  We worry too much about the future, we spend too much time in the past and completely forget that we are only guaranteed the present.  So, if this is the last 24 hours of our lives…..what do we WANT to do with it.  I certainly don’t want to be wasting time saying, could’a, would’a, should’a.  Worry IS NOT living, by the way!  What I see now, and plan to put into operation is that I need to commit to the journey and stop romantizing the destination.  Meaning, by applying the saying, once I get ____________ then I will start to live.  I also need to apply the idea, it’s not about me.  While I need to do “my” part, the end result is whether I was a positive or a negative cog in the wheel.  Did I help, encourage or was I a distraction, a naysayer, but the end is about whether or not the wheel was able to turn and move in a positive direction.

We all seem to wait for the destination to appear on the horizon, but all too often, the destination becomes a mirage.  If you use retirement as an example, hasn’t the economy changed your ability to feel secure in it?  What about those whose health seemingly deteriorates either just before, or immediately after that “date?”  The point I’m trying to make is that we should stop waiting on the destination, we need to enjoy the journey!

Today is the first day of the rest of your journey, make the most of it!

Looking up! ~ Barb