Do you look over the fence of your life in envy of your neighbor’s happiness?
There is a joke: When you’re young, you want to be old. When you’re old, you want to me young. When you’re single, you want to be married, and when you’re married, you want to be dead!”
Just kidding, it’s only a joke but demonstrates how we race through life looking for the newer, better, and the picture that is always outside of ourselves and our present situation.
Remember as you cycle through your life that yes, the grass always looks greener on the other side, but just as hard to mow. We need to live knowing that life is a participation in the Divine Cycle. The Bible, the book of Ecclesiastes, tells us that there is a season for everything.
“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.”
As we go through our daily lives, moving so quickly through the times of our lives, we sometimes miss the blessing that each cycle brings to us. We need to retrain ourselves learning to rejoice in the present, no matter how difficult:
There is a time to soar and a time to grieve.
There is a time to laugh and a time to cry.
There is a time to ride the wave and a time to hang on for dear life.
There is a time for work and there is a time to relax.
There is a time for closeness and a time for separation.
There’s a time to feast and a time to fast.
There’s a time to speak up and a time to shut up.
There’s a time to spend and a time to save.
Look at the world around you.
Are you any different from the ebb and flow of the ocean, the rising and setting of the sun, or the sequence of fall, winter, spring and summer?
Cycles make up each day and each breath, with each inhale and exhale. What goes up must come down.
So whatever “time zone” you find yourself, bloom where you are planted. If you are riding high, enjoy the scenery. Enjoy the each precious minute of joy and good health.
If you are trudging through life’s lowland with worry or illness, take heart knowing that you are cycling through a life lesson and you will come out on the other side, stronger, more patient, and understanding.
Whatever and whenever your situation, remember to embrace the hand that you are dealt, relaxing in the Lord’s wisdom for you at that time.
As my wise mother, Ginny, always shared, “It all works out for the best.” And mama knows best!
