Is it really going to be Thanksgiving next week? Is it just me or does it seem like with every year that passes the anticipation of upcoming events is shorter and if you don’t stop to take a breath in the moment then the sought after joy will become like a sugar high – instant pick me up with a heavy let down.
It very well could be an ‘age’ thing…when you are young you don’t have much expectation for what ‘else’ could be ‘better’ so the moments that are anticipated are lived with full abandon and is cherished as the ‘best time of my life’! Hitting 30 through 40 and you can’t seem to grab onto the memories of the stages of your children and the anticipations are ‘releases’ from the stress of simply staying abreast of bills, work, family and health…when an anticipated opportunity does arise it’s experienced with such a great fervor of release to step away from the cyclone of a world we deal with daily that by the time the ‘event’ is over the cyclone picks us up and throws us back into the tizzy. It’s really those who are 50 and beyond who begin to open the gift of wisdom that God gave them. They begin to no longer put too high an anticipation on any one event or moment and instead find the same release of joy and ‘escape’ in little moments through the day.
I think that is why when I see someone who has managed to go beyond even the age of wisdom into their 80’s and 90’s that they find peace in anticipating the quiet. I read today in My Daily Bread “silence is truly a virtue when practiced for God. In developing a love for silence, I will learn a deeper wisdom, a broader outlook on every day life, and a brighter nearness of God’s nearness and love.”
I don’t want to wait till I’m 80 to find this wisdom. It will take baby steps but I will try to ‘sit’ in anticipation of what I will find in my ‘quiet’ and as events and moments arise I will ‘be still’ and take it all in. 🙂
Blessings
Shannon