Running

As is kid I loved to run. I used to run up and down our property all summer long. When I started high school I joined track. I loved to run and feel the wind in my face.

I do not "run" with my legs any onger. I "run" with my whole mind and body. I have to hurry and get what I am doing done so I can start the next something. It is not enough to do only one thing at a time now. If I am watching TV, I have to read a book or do a crossword puzzle at the same time.
The first time I noticed this was when I was playing the guitar.

My wife got me a bass guitar for Christmas a couple of years ago. A friend found a site on the internet that will help you to learn how to play. I was getting frustrated with the site. I was four or five lessons in to the program and my playing wasn't getting any better. I started thinking I will never be able to play. I just don't have the skill. Some people can play music and some can't. I am a can't.

I took a step back and looked at what I was doing. I was running through the lessons. I would look at the lesson. I would say "I know where all those notes are and I see what order to play them". Then I would move on because I had finished the lesson. Here was the best lesson I had learned on the guitar: walk don't run. I wasn't "doing". I was just reading. I was just skimming through the information. I was not really learning. I just wanted to pick up enough information and not get bogged down with it and then move on to the next thing.

That wasn't working for me. I haven't found anyone who has had success with this approach. I went back to lesson #1 and did the lesson. Then I went back and did it again. I worked on that lesson for a couple of hours. Now I could kind of do what it said. I was 100% better. That still isn't much, but I am better at playing than I ever would have been if I kept doing lessons the old way.

The bottom line is we can get so caught up in the digital society we stop doing. Walk don't run. Unplug for a day and see where it leads you. I love all of my gadgets. I wouldn't want to have to live with out them. I just need to remember to slow down.

Lilies of the field...

Plan B for my quiet time is reading "My Utmost for his Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I usually read what is under the current days posting. Because I don't read the book everyday, I often have to leaf through several days to get to the current days reading. Today as I was flipping through I stopped on May 18. The title is "Living Simply - Yet Focused" and the verse is Matthew 6:26,28. These verses talk about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. The part that really stuck with me was this sentence "Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually - just as "the lilies of the field."

When something happens in our lives that we don't want, what do you do? Do you sit and feel sorry for yourself? Do you sit and talk about how great things used to be? If we keep our focus on God, what could go wrong? What can really harm us if we are focused on God and His works?

Welcome

HI My name is David Wilson. I have been journaling for the last couple of months. I am going to start writing here. I hope we can have some great discussions.