Impatience Steals The Importance Of Today

So, if you’re anything like me, you are impatient.  Impatient waiting in line at the grocery store, impatient driving behind the car creeping down the road, impatient waiting for someone to get to a lunch date… this list can go on for miles.  I am a planner, I like goals, I like lists, and I like some semblance of order in everything.  And as we all know, life in general wreaks havoc on the world of us “planning” types.  Life cannot really be planned.  What we want to do from one day to the next doesn’t always pan out.  And for many people the plans of tomorrow never come, because they didn’t know that a particular day was to be their last day.  The older I get I continue to learn more and more ways to allow myself to enjoy the journey more instead of always trying to get to the next destination.  I try to remind myself that all I really have is today; today to love others, today to make a difference, today to worship, and today to pray.  Each day has its unique challenges and sometimes the challenge is fighting against the ordinary.  The routine seems to sometimes become life sucking.  When I am in my routine I tend to look less for opportunities to minister and focus more on what I need to get done with this “just another day.”  But today was one of those days I really felt like I tried to slow it down.  I fought against that impatience in order to try to glean some life out of today.  I smiled at people in the Walmart check-out line and didn’t get frustrated at how slow it was going.  I got behind that creeping driver and I stayed way behind as to not “push” them down the road, trying my best to focus on the scenery and my music playing.  Something else I have started doing that has brought a lot more peace into my life is taking my Nook in the car with me when I’m on my way somewhere.  Today I was going to meet a friend for lunch and she was running about 10 minutes late and I happened to get there about 10 minutes early.  In that situation I’m always tempted to get frustrated waiting for someone to arrive at a certain time, but instead I took my Nook out and started reading.  Reading always soothes me.  I also rolled the windows down and felt the sunlight, listened to the bustle of people and singing birds around me.  Peace came at a time that I could’ve been irritated.  It was my time-out from everything I needed to get done today.  When I am able to capture those moments even in the most mundane of days, I feel very thankful to God.  This was just another reminder of how impatience steals the importance of today.  Take your time; life is not a race, it is a beautiful journey.