What Are We Running From?

Think about life for one reflective moment—that minute caption of time, long enough to consciously think—and what do you see?

There is no limit to answers for such a spacious question.

The specific answer I was given as I reflected, recently, was that life catches up with all of us in the end—and that end is not about a conclusive end, but an end in the realm of the coming, and soon-to-arrive, even been-and-gone, circumstances.

Life has a cause-and-effect basis about it. And there is no good running from it, because, though life is relatively still and calm as in a flow, it involves us to the level of consequences for the actions we decide for.

What, truly, are we running from—from the folly of past decisions—the common human destinies devoid of situational wisdom?

Answering THAT Incisive Question

Any time we approach life in such a way as to either reflect in these ways or to delve specifically into the sources of denial that continue to restrict the level of practiced wisdom we deploy in life, we are the benefactors.

That is as a direct consequence; for we learn. And what is wisdom but learning?

There are also other benefactors (friends and loved ones) as we choose to live in such ways.

Think about a time when we might approach life as a constant prayer regaling these enfolding hopes:

What am I running from?

Why, by doing this, am I afraid of life?

Why can I not see life as an innocuous character repaying me for my deeds of the day and previous day?

Two Ways Of Living – One Right And One Wrong

If our modus operandi is to rush through life, or to blame life and its other characters for the things that happen to us, we will never be happy. We will earn ourselves a miserable existence. And the irony will be: only ourselves can we truly blame.

But when we flip our thinking by having the courage to go against fear, to deal with life on honest terms, and at its natural ever-eternal pace, we collect for ourselves not misery, but fuel for learning; and learning requites wisdom, which in turn blesses us with peace and joy. And we learn about love, patience, and compassion whilst we get to sail upon the splendiferous rolling sea of virtue beyond it.

***

Notwithstanding loss and grief, our emotional states tell us a lot about how we are choosing to live life. Just as easily we can have peace, hope, grace, and joy, as burden, stress, rushing, frustration, and fatigue. We just ask ourselves, “What are we running from?”

From there—a 5-word prayer—new life begins! Revealed by God, the truth becomes self-evident, and learning betroths blessing.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Graphic Credit: Handpainted Quilts.