She could not have been more enthusiastically interested in our Sprinter van with her rapid-fire questions.
“Oh, look at that!”
“Wow, that is really cool!”
“How do you…?”
“What about…?”
We often get questions from people pondering the purchase of one of these awesome haciendas on wheels. But what she said at the conclusion of her fawning over our van was what surprised me most. Turning back from our rig and looking out at the beautiful white sands and endless ocean where we were we presently parked, she proclaimed emphatically, “I’m so over this!”
As she walked away, I stood there in a bit of shock, baffled that anyone could be “over” such magnificent beauty!
Yet on further reflection – pulling the lens back a bit – I began to wonder: what in my own life am I “so over”? Or, perhaps more accurately, what have I simply stopped appreciating at the same depth?
My sense is that the real challenge is how easily most of us slip into a posture of assumption – of taking things for granted.
As I pushed myself to take a deeper dive into my own small world, what surfaced was not so much breathtaking vistas (though I certainly need to pause and enjoy those more), but rather the people in my life.
I am blessed beyond measure with a wonderful family, great friends – many of them spanning decades – and an abundance of interesting, creative colleagues. All of whom are far too easy to take for granted… until something tragic happens.
I have found the two keys for shocking ourselves out of a posture of assumption: awareness and gratitude. To consistently work on being present and paying attention to the moment – it is definitely a muscle that takes time to strengthen. And the other is gratitude. Cultivating a posture of being grateful at all times in all places.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
“Give thanks in all circumstances.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18
In his novel In Search of Lost Time, French Author Marcel Proust writes a poignant line, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” When we are able to reposition ourselves to increase awareness and gratitude we will in fact be able to discover our landscape with new eyes.
Gratitude is at the heart of the Christian life because it recognizes God as the giver of all things. – N.T. Wright
BP