If You’re Worried…….

There’s never a bad time for a good, long walk.

But if you’re overwhelmed, confused, sad, lonely, or worried,

it may be the best time to put on some shoes and head out the door.

Whether your walk takes you deep into the woods or down a busy street,

walk alone a bit.

No phone.

No music.

Just you and your thoughts.

They’ll be spinning at first.

Those thoughts.

It may even feel like work.

But then, if you just let yourself go………………..

try focusing on what’s around you instead of what’s inside of you…………….

things will begin changing.

You’ll see the old man on the bench feeding the pigeons.

You’ll notice the leaves waving gently in the wind…………..moved by a force outside themselves yet refusing to struggle with the direction they are being sent.

You’ll be aware of the birds filling the branches and how they sing……………and you realize they don’t demand an audience or need applause to celebrate life.

You see a flower.

One big, beautiful flower popping up an empty pot.

A pot holding dirt what you thought was just dirt.

Oh, how we “think” we know.

Slowly, you’ll start to feel connected to something so much bigger and better and alive than anything you could ever have imagine if you would have stayed home fretting, trying to solve the problems of the world.

And very quickly, but quite unexpectedly, you feel peace.

Peace because you realize – finally – that you can’t fix anything.

You can’t change what is.

And it’s okay.

Because the world has turned for centuries without your help, and it will keep turning for centuries after you’re gone.

And even if the Bible is just another book to you, it still speaks some pretty wise words.

Look at the flowers.

They aren’t worried, and yet Solomon in all his splendor was never dressed like one of these.

Mark Twain once said,

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

That’s exactly what you may find yourself doing.

Dragging your thoughts as you walk.

But do it anyway.

By the ears.

By the heels.

Whatever it takes.

But somewhere along the way, let them go!

Release them.

Come home lighter.

Come home more in tune with the reality of life and less in tune with your own tiny little space on this planet,

because really our little space is just a speck and even when our mountains seem huge they are bumps in the road if we just keep walking up, determined to reach the next peak no matter what.

There’s an old Swedish proverb that says,

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

Don’t live in the shadow of your worries today.

Walk ahead of them and let the shadow fall far behind you.

There’s life to be lived and worry would love to see you sit down and miss it.

So, today, if you’re worried.

Take a walk.

A long walk.

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Matt. 6:27-31