Today I kayaked with my husband, a rare treat.  It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect and few people were on the river.  As soon as we floated into the water, my spirit relaxed.  Surrounded by the beauty of nature as fall makes its way into the foilage with bright oranges, yellows and reds dotted throughout the green trees, a peace and calm came over me.  I asked myself, “Why don’t we do this more often?”  Immediately the answer came to me…”because we are so busy.”  Our schedules are hectic and each hour is crammed with the overwhelming to-do lists and the obligations that make up our lives.  The tyranny of urgency outweighs the important, only because we let it.  I say “we” but truthfully I can only speak for myself.

We went an hour down the river and along the way I heard the grunt of a small 2 foot gator before we even came upon him.  I’m a city girl so I was quite amazed at myself for recognizing what the sound was and finding out I was actually right!  We were tuned into the sounds of everything around us.  We were experiencing the serene beauty that we rarely take the time to notice.  This was not looking at a picture of a beautiful place.  This was being in the beautiful place.  A peaceful, calm, beautiful place where no clock was ticking to tell us when this experience had to end.   No one was demanding anything of us.  We were free to let  the stresses of life be put on pause for several hours.

I was sad when it was time to turn around and start to paddle back.  I wanted to stay longer.  Truthfully, I could have probably slept on the kayak and done it all again tomorrow.  I didn’t want the experience to be over.  I didn’t want to go back to the house where my to-do list is constantly on my mind.  I wanted to float peacefully, indefinitely down that river where my mind and soul could take a break from everything except what I was experiencing in those rare, precious moments.

We talked about when we will make a trip down the river again.  We talked about it but we didn’t decide when it will be.  Maybe that’s part of the problem.  We talk alot about the things we want to do but rarely make it a priority to do actually schedule them and follow through.  Today was a wonderful day.  I want more wonderful, peaceful, relaxing days that calm and restore my soul.  I want days where I have no clock ticking, dictating my every move.  I want tranquility.  Today I got it.  It’s my responsibility to see that I get these days on a regular basis.  I need to learn to say “no” more often to the things considered “urgent” to others and say “yes” more often to the things that are important to me.  I don’t say this from a selfish heart.  I say this from a heart that wants to be renewed and refreshed and then better able to give and serve others.

Today I kayaked on the river with my husband, a rare treat.  I hope in the future I can write and say that it’s a regular occasion instead.