Whistler mountain, Canada

The Practice of Slowing

This was a wonderful entry that I made June 19, 2005.  Now most people that know me well say I am a very adventurous and passionate person.  They would also say I am very high-energy.  These traits of mine make me want to go-go everyday.  Hence, I can be very spontaneous and eventually hurried.  Like the nike slogan of years ago I was the quintessential “Just do it…” person.  There’s such little time!

But everyday is a gift.  Everyday is a blessing.  Everyday is a celebration.  

There’s a quote I wrote down that was not highlighted but should have been.  It goes, “Hurry is just not a disordered schedule it is a disordered heart.” 

What do you do to slow down?  Watch tv?  Nap?  Read?  Do you do it enough?  For me I slow down when I surf, snowboard, and read to end the night.  But I don’t do it enough.  

There’s another quote at the bottom of the picture that should be highlighted but wasn’t.  

“Solitude is the one place where we can gain freedom from the forces of society that will otherwise relentlessly mold us.”

Here’s an entry I had in my journal for our trip to Turkey with my missions team.  It is called approaching differences.  We sat through this training because we were going to a country that was predominately Muslim and we were coming from a very Christian country.  So to prepare us to make meaningful relationships we were given training.

To the left we have we have two “approaches” you can have towards relationships.  Path #1 you are adaptable, trusting, accepting and open.  Path #2 you can be suspicious, fearful, condescending, and prejudice.  Both approaches will lead us to the “Storming” phase where no matter which way you approach relationships you will feel misunderstood, frustrated, tension, confusion, and embarrassment.  Now there are two approaches after the “storming” phase that is called the “forming” phase.  You will continue down Path #1 where you listen, observe, ask, and initiate conversations/relationships to correct the symptoms of the storming phase.  And this has proven to lead to deep relationships, good rapport and better understanding.  

If you continue down the 2nd path and criticize, rationalize, and isolate yourself you will reap broken relationships, alienate and withdraw from conversations and relationships.

This simple little venn diagram/graph/flow chart seems to be an equation, but to me it was good to see this again and realize that life can throw you some hard bumps, switchbacks, setbacks, and forks.  Then you can unknowingly become jaded and weathered and start down path #1 to find yourself in path #2.  

I would love to end up at some deep relationships at the end of my journey.  Time to find my way back to path #1.  Anyone re-member how to get back?

I am continuing my rediscovery of the long lost journal.  I found an interesting journal entry of a “bucket list” of things to do before I turn 25.  I wrote this in 2005 so I was a junior in college.  There are so many random  things that I wanted to do.  I have napped on a hammock, I slide down fire poles everyday at work, I have been to Turkey for a short term mission, my sister and I have definitely moved from just being siblings to friends now, I’ve been to Europe with my friends, I’ve been to a Jazz concerts, I bought myself a Harley as a present to myself, I have watched several friends get married and I have climbed Mt. Whitney with a good friend.  Just to accomplish those things in the last 5 years is amazing.  What a blessing it is to see that so many of my dreams have been granted.

There are still a couple things I have not yet accomplished.  I believe I will never be able to float in water.  I sink.  ALWAYS!  I sunk in the Aegean Sea one of the saltiest hence buoyant waters in the world.  Learning to make kimchee from my mother is now so low on my list of things to do, but it would be a great gift to learn before it becomes a lost art form.  I would still like to surf in Australia one day and I would love to kayak from Norcal to Socal one of these days.  But out of the list the one thing I am so happy to see that I’m working on is to be best friends with my sister.  That in itself makes the whole bucket list.

As I look at this list I know I could make another list for things I would like to accomplish before I am 35.  When I get around to writing that list I will share it with you.  In the mean time it feels great to cross so many things off my list but in the big picture I wish I could dream bigger!  As someone once told me, “Your dreams are so small in comparison to what God has in store for you.  So dream bigger!”  

The one item that sticks out to me on my list is #12.  I still hope that I will be able to cross that one off my list in my life.  I believe this year will be a very challengeing year for myself as I am coming across a very important decision I have to make regarding the direction of my future.  I know that sounds very vague but I am still in the process of thinking through and praying about a decision many people would find to be ridiculous and dangerous.  One day I will share about that decision publically, but you might have to wait for me to be ready to share that story.  

Christmas is only a few days away and we will bring in yet another NEW year.  My pastor told us “…wisdom is the gift of connecting dots between a given set of facts that people will ordinarily overlook.  Wisdom is the gift of seeing the relationship between one thing and another.”  I pray that God will grant me wisdom as I head into 2011 and I will make decisions that are focused on the eternal.