Effortless

Last Friday morning, I woke up at 5:30, as usual.  I was giddy.  I realized that it was my day off.  And I was going to be home alone. 

 

I was able to get around to some to-dos.  I finally got my hair cut.  It was long overdue.

My normal Friday routine usually includes some house cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping.  That’s the goal anyway.  Sometimes I end up playing on the internet, visiting craft stores or poking around at Goodwill.

 

Instead, I decided to take advantage of the warmer weather and go on a hike.  It felt like a good choice for the day.  I packed a lunch and headed to a close park.

I had a lunch date with myself.

I went for a hike on the snow covered trail and then had lunch down by the creek.  The beauty of a hike is that you can enjoy the scenery.  It’s not like a trail run where you look at some elk for a split second and twist your ankle.

It was so peaceful.  I didn’t realize that I would still be able to hear the rush of the water under the ice.  It reminded me of the undercurrent of joy.  Joy is always there.  Even when dark times may be clouding it, the undercurrent is always there.

I thought about some things that have been on my heart for a while.  A long, long while.  Things that I never really spend time thinking about because everyday life tends to get in the way.  I think it helps to be somewhere else.  My mind floated around.

I enjoyed the solitude.  I didn’t realize how much the burdens of the week had weighed on me until I was alone and could breathe.

A thought kept coming to mind, “thank you.” 

I was so grateful for the day.  I was grateful for the time for reflection.  I was simply grateful for this life that I have been given.

It’s not often that I have a day like that.  A day that seems so seamless, so effortless. 

Often, I become so controlled by the to-dos that I think I will only have peace if they are done.  But that’s not true.  In the middle of the to-dos, I made time for me, and I did have peace.  In fact, when I returned home (and changed pants because I realized after my lunch that the ground I was sitting on was quite wet), I resumed my to-dos and there wasn’t a feeling of dread that accompanied that.  I simply resumed.

Now that my long weekend is done, and I am immersed in the reality of the work week, I am grateful for the gift of that day.  The peace that day brought me still lingers in my heart.