A Time for All Things

I'm not an overly giving person, nor am I overly selfish.  I believe in balance to all things and I believe there is a time and a season for all things.  There are times when we pour ourselves out in service to others and times when we withdraw from the world to be refreshed and refilled.  My evening walks are a part of that refreshing time.  

When I take a walk, I take them just for me.  It's my time not just to unwind but to unpack all the things I've been holding onto.  I try to make sense of the world and the people in it.  I try to make all the loose ends and odd pieces magically fit together into something cohesive.  I want to know "why."

It sounds like an exercise in futility, trying to make sense of a mad world and it's equally quirky inhabitants, some of whom live under my roof but I barely recognize, but believe it or not, walking really does help.  Just look at the majesty of this golden sunset.  How can you not return from basking in this golden forest feeling less stressed and more thankful?

Maybe I won't ever have all the answers, there's not enough forest paths or sidewalks in the world for me to walk and solve it all.  But, this quiet time helps me get just a little closer.  I may never fully understand why, but I can use this time to empathize, to put myself in someone else's place and say why might I behave this way or react like this.  That little bit of insight helps me more than anyone else.

I struggle with loving people, especially when their actions make no sense to me.  I do a lot of talking to myself and God on my walks and somewhere between the first step and the last I usually find a way to forgive the people who have hurt me (yes, a little bit of forgiveness each day is a very healthy way to live rather than letting  the wounds fester for years) and a way to go on loving those who seem bent on  destroying themselves and everyone around them, even though it comes at a very dear price.

And so a walk,--in my experience the best time for walking and thinking is after a slice of warm apple tart and a hot cup of tea--to mull over all the events of the day, all the problems of life, keeps my heart and mind balanced between giving too much and not enough, between confusion and austerity.  I return refreshed and  more at peace with the world and ready to give of myself again.

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