Lately I've been thinking about directions. I've done this run a few times before, it's called Forrest Hollow it meets up with another trail called, Boy Scouts and comes back in to town. I have always done it with more experienced people, and I generally float along following their directions. I thought I knew it well. I even studied it at 3am the night before so I wouldn't get TJ's sibs lost when I took them. However, I studied the wrong part because this was the part I least thought I would get lost on. It's the part I was most familiar with, but that made it all the more trickier, because I had done so many different routes once I had gotten to this section. I also should have known since I was running with Lisa that we would get lost. Actually it crossed my mind, we have a history of getting lost on our runs together. Last time we were in Seattle and figured if we just kept running around the lake we would get back. However there were channels off the lake and we were lost! This time we were only 3 miles out of the way and in all fairness I knew that we would end up in the same general vicinity. Plus we had a nice scenic byway through Docs.
It got me thinking though. How often do we really know where we are going to end up in life? Hopefully we all have goals of where we want to be, but I think we often end up somewhere else entirely. Or maybe we just get there a different way than we had planned. It usually ends up being harder but I think in the end it's usually better. I hope anyways, so far that has been my experience in life. I love to know the end from the beginning but how often can we actually know the exact outcome of everything we do? My brain struggles with this, as it leans on the scientific side. It also used to drive me nuts when my husband would say he knew how to get somewhere and get us completely lost. He did teach me to enjoy getting lost though, and especially with him! But I guess sometimes you just have to follow your heart and let it go! I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this. My thoughts on this still feel rather immature, but I feel like I'm learning some life lesson from this all.
I love that you posted this! I struggle with anxiety, and the last few years I get especially anxious when I think about the future and how much I don't know about what's ahead. I love the thought from CS Lewis that says, "There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind." It surely is an exercise of faith for me that I will probably struggle with for the rest of my life, but I have seen the Lord's hand in my life when I look back at the direction my path has taken. Because I am so stubborn, I tend to want everything planned and to have things my way. But it is true that the Lord is the greatest designer of lives and stories. If we let go and trust Him, there are beautiful things in store for us.
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't mean to bear my testimony on your blog, but I guess I did. I think I just need to listen to that lesson myself and stop being so anxious about the unknown future!