Recently I was waiting in my Subaru for a tall ship to pass under an open drawbridge in Bay City, Michigan. Summers in Michigan are spectacular and this warm August day did not disappoint. I put my car in park and took delight in being forced to pause for a while – a long while, it was a slow ship – while other people in traffic didn’t appear to be as pleased as I. I briefly watched my frustrated neighbors feel stuck, shake their heads, throw up their arms, and mindlessly play with their phones. Nobody was going anywhere fast.
With great joy, I diverted my attention to the sun setting over the water, children playing at a nearby park, a couple biking with a chunky dog along the Saginaw River, and puffy clouds lazily drifting across a fading, turquoise blue sky. I’m proud to say I didn’t scroll through my iPhone once. As the drawbridge began slowly descending – as we knew it eventually would – I reflected on how this happens so many times in our own lives.
Love is the bridge between you and everything. – Rumi
We rush too much. Rush through our 20s and 30s. Blink through our 40s. We rush to achieve that big goal and on to the next. We rush for fear of staying stuck. Now in my 50s, I understand being stuck is a choice. The sun will rise and set. The drawbridge will open and close. My dears, you might as well enjoy the peace in simply being. Make sure you’re watching the sunset, children playing, and the clouds drift by. This moment matters. The journey matters. Your joy matters. Yes, dare I say, even more than the goal itself.
