Walking alone does not necessarily mean alone. During my early Saturday morning walk, I noticed many friends. I don’t know if any of them would consider me a friend, but that’s okay. The opinions or assumptions of others do not need to control our perspectives and conclusions.
The chipmunk chose to rush her way away. I wanted a conversation. She did not.
The rabbit refused to move. Staying still until I walked too close. Then he hopped away in a hurry. Rabbits do that.
The deer stopped her breakfast and looked up. I guess you could say we made eye contact. No sudden moves from either of us. Until I was ready to take her picture and she ran into the woods.
The hawk rapidly flew over. A plan, I assume. A goal, I guess. No time for a conversation or a picture. Just business. And breakfast.
The birds. So many birds singing their Saturday morning songs of celebration. Making announcements. Stating opinions. Rejoicing as their normal routine. A cardinal stopped and stayed a while. Flying up to a limb on a skinny tree. And then gone.
I could have taken it personally and made everything about me, as we often do. Did I do something wrong? Is there something about me the rabbit does not like? Why did none of my Saturday morning friends seem glad to see me?
We do ourselves harm by dwelling on so many issues about us.
It was much better to think about each animal: their fears, their needs, their place.
The chipmunk in a hurry. The many squirrels in their normal routine. The birds singing their morning hymns. The dog held in the hand of a man who walked by, going the other direction.
Let’s just stop thinking about us. Think about them. The trees. The wind. The clouds. The birds.
Refusing to stay focused on ourselves is not denial of our needs or concerns. It is remembering there is so much more to life.
Take a walk.
Take a look.
See.
Hear.
Make the choice to rejoice.
And enjoy those who might never stop to notice you. Consider them friends.
Walking alone does not necessarily mean alone.
Beautiful.
This post made me pause and reflect on a recent relationship. I had felt ghosted by a friend. I responded by not reaching out for a while.
But then I remembered that often I withdraw and times of pain and hardship and busyness of life.
I reached out to her, and she replied.
So just because a friend scurries by or doesn’t have time to pause with you, doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Jesus taught us to love unconditionally.
Thank you, Chris for this reminder.
This post was a reflection on how I see myself and how I think others see me. There is more to life than dwelling on if someone likes me or doesn’t. Thank you for this refresher.
After this alpha weekend and the services, I really enjoyed reading this. We truly have to enjoy the now and be in the moment.
After this alpha weekend and the services, I really enjoyed reading this. We truly have to enjoy the now and be in the moment. The future is all in God’s hands and worrying about it won’t do anything but stress us out and God doesn’t want that.
This blog is beautiful! Taking time to enjoy those who do not notice me is a different kind of appreciation and love. For once, thinking about the many other souls around me rather than myself. Truly soaking in the beauty of everything and everyone surrounding me feels refreshing. Thank you for yet another wonderful blog.
This blog is a great reminder I think even that everyone in our lives are dealing with their own battles, and these battles usually are going to lead them to act in the ways that they are. Hence that we do not flight against flesh and blood but rather against evil spirits of this world. Again, this was a great reminder to change our perspective, and to see things in a less selfish way.
This blog post has so much meaning. It was truly beautiful to read. In today’s world, our culture tells us to put our needs above everything else, and almost forces us to think in a way that the world should revolve around us. That is just simply not true in my eyes. We are called to care for others. These statements reminded me of Philippians 2:3-4 which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” We often need to shift the focus from ourselves to others.
Staying focused on ourselves is something that is not done enough, this post was a good reminder of that.
I really enjoyed this post. It is so natural as human beings to be so concerned and obsessed with the self. It can be hard to get out of the mindset of believing that everything revolves around me. It can be hard to not take things personally too, but we have to look outside of ourselves; being in nature is a great way to do that. Surrounding yourself with nature is a great way to gain some perspective and it often offers a sense of peace. God’s amazing creation is always a good reminder to me that life is so much bigger than I am, which relieves some pressure and anxiety that I sinfully place on myself sometimes.
Life is so much more than our needs and scripture reminds us of that. I believe our needs and worries become less pertinent to us when we begin to attend to the needs of others and extend to them the care and compassion we long for. I think it is in doing so that we find joy unspeakable and full of glory. Becoming one with the love of God to the extent that we do not know where the giving ends and the receiving begins.
I think that this post perfectly captures the mindset that so many of us have in our day to life. Our culture is always pushing us to think about ourselves. It tells us to do what makes us feel best. It tells us to cut people out who don’t prioritize our needs over everything. But this way of thinking is not Biblical at all. Jesus calls us to love others and place them before ourselves. When we follow this path, we can recognize the beauty of everything and everyone around us. When we take our focus off of ourselves, we can enjoy the rewarding feeling of serving without prior motives and truly seeing the people around us.
“Refusing to stay focused on ourselves is not denial of our needs or concerns. It is remembering there is so much more to life.” This statement alone is important to me. I will admit, I do dwell on things about myself or things that may be affecting me. Because of this, I blind myself of everything else around me. There are reminders in everything that we can take a step outside of ourselves, and take a closer look, a more intimate look. We only have one chance at life- a sacred gift that God has given us. We are blessed enough to experience a land of infinite wonders and yet, we become stuck when we dwell on ourselves for too long. This is a reminder to shut your physical eyes and open your spiritual ones. Open your heart, mind, and soul to remember and appreciate that there is so much more to life.
I agree wholeheartedly with the notions in this post, I can relate it to my tennis career so far, we all so often get caught up in the moment, if we’re winning losing, how the points are going, who’s got a better looking serve or whatever it is and we lose focus of where we are, the opportunity we have to just be out here playing the sport we love, and for a purpose, how nice. My coach is a big believer in this too, he has imparted many purposeful methods of staying connected to nature and what’s around us when we get caught up in the stresses of life.