Devotional Reflection Continued
Today's How You Start Your Day Sets Your Day devotional really got me thinking. I love when that happens. I ran out of room in the supplied reflection page. So I thought I'd continue writing about it here in my journal...hehehe
It was about slowing down in order to find our joy. Although I do agree with that to a point, I started thinking about what brings me joy and how I find it. I tend to need to slow down to do some self care. But I truly believe I can find joy in every day moments regardless of the pace at which my life is going. It doesn't require me to slow down to find the joy. I really just need to be paying attention.
In part of the devotional, it mentions that when the author drives a little slower, he'll begin to notice more about his surroundings. As someone who frequently drives to Disney World, I don't always take the slow route. I take many routes depending on when or if I am meeting up with someone, or traffic patterns. But I drive each route enough to see new things each time. This is regardless how fast I'm driving. I am just good about paying attention as I find the state of Florida to be incredibly beautiful.
I suppose the point I'm making is that the pace by which I'm going through life doesn't have a direct effect on how I find joy. What it takes for me is to find a good balance between the fast pace things I enjoy and the slow paced things I also enjoy. In my reflection notes, I used the analogy of theme park attractions. Comparing a rollercoaster with a slow boat ride, I spoke about how I find joy in both types of attractions.
I leaned into this analogy because I felt it best described how I feel about the pace of life and still being able to find joy. Life has it's ups and downs. It sometimes feels like time is flying by. And sometimes I experience moments when I have to come to almost a complete stop; like when I get sick. There are also those moments I need to wait in a line with expectations for what is to come.
No matter how I look at the speed of which life is going by, I want to choose to observe both the big and the small things in life. I want to find contentment in now. Just like a rollercoaster, I can't control the pace of life when it's going fast. But also like the boat ride, I can't control the slow pace of life in other times. It's up to me to find joy in whatever I'm doing or where I am at.
I would absolutely love to go back to living in the country where everything was slow paced most of the time. Someday I may get back to that. But that isn't where God has me right now. Today, He has me in a place where I get a balance of both paces. He is teaching me how I can find contentment in my circumstances, whatever they may be.
If I were given control of the pace of my life, I would likely choose to keep things slow all the time. Then again, I don't really want to be in control...hehehe I don't know what is best for even myself. Everything I use to think about life has been completely wrong...LOL I'm sort of in a Jesus Take the Wheel mode at the moment.
This year, I have been given the opportunity to slow down quite a bit. It has been sooooo nice! I've especially enjoyed my time at the local botanical gardens for the past month or so. I've also been going at a slower pace on my walks. My body is in maintenance mode with my health journey. So I don't have to go at an exercise pace or jog right now. And as you can see in my journal, I've been doing a lot more writing this year than I've ever written in my life...hehehe
I'll continue enjoying this slow pace for as long as God as me in this season. And I'll be sure to enjoy the fast pace of life should this change in the future. I'm not chasing after anything in this life any longer. I'm ready to focus on God's Kingdom moving forward. Whatever timing He has planned, I want to find contentment in His plan.