Last week while hiking around Horseshoe Island, just off the “coast” of Peninsula State Park in beautiful Fish Creek, Wisconsin, I realized something:while I can be as (sort of) adventuresome as the next person, I really hate notknowing where I’m going. See, not long after we had beached our kayaks on thedeserted island and set off to enjoy one of the beautiful spots on earth, mystress level rose. Even though we followed a clear-enough trail, even thoughtiny hiker signs were nailed to trees every 200 yards or so, and even though Iknew this trail looped the tiny island and would get us back to our kayaksstill, I couldn’t shake a frustration about not knowing just where were. Orjust when we’d get back.
It’s a silly quirk I have. A control freak thing, actually. But when I remembered what I was dealing with–and simply remembered to keep moving forward and with each new step to enjoy the mystery of what was around me as well as what lay ahead–I was able to relax and enjoy my hike.
In the chapter in Grumble Hallelujah about Feeling Stuck in life, I write about the importance of moving forward:
“…even when God seems to be holding us by the collar, asking us to hold tight a spell, forward is still the direction we need to be thinking. It’s the direction God’s creation moves–nothing really stands still and nothing really goes backward. Trees, even with their roots sunk deep into the earth and their bodies hard and sure, move forward–through time and space and by reaching, stretching, and bloating ring by ring.
“If you stop to think about where God wants you to go, really, forward is the only direction. If he does have you by that collar, you migh only be able to take baby steps or go at whatever pace he’s going–or you may only forward in the way you think or feel. But that’s the direction we’re given here on earth.”
What does “moving forward” look like for you right now?
This first appeared in this month’s newsletter. Be sure to sign up on the right side of my page!
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