FORTY DAYS
In a February post, I shared a goal to rise 30 minutes earlier to invest more of my most precious commodity, time, for additional introspection and discovery of self. When the blog was posted, 20 days had been completed already. It seemed only fitting to provide a small snippet of some of my take-a-ways.
1) I was able to put words to a thought that I long held but couldn’t clearly articulate. Revelations about oneself are not secret. The revelation moves from subconscious to conscious with time and intentional work. Do the work and in due season, the reveal happens.
2) I may be a relic, but I am not without relevance and value. During this period, I traveled to Belize on a mission trip. Because of the increased time investment in me, I was able to travel with hand and heart wide open to give and receive. I had more to invest in others because I had invested in me first.
3) Don’t judge me! I spent time thinking about the theology of eggs. An egg is useless until it is cracked or pierced. I am here because my father’s sperm pierced one of my mother’s eggs. A three-egg western omelet is only possible if three eggs are broken and beaten. Eggs will make a return to the blog, I am sure.
4) Thoughts and memories of my childhood, parents, and elementary and high school were plentiful.
The abundance of thoughts of my adolescent and teenage years were perhaps the most surprising. I have often marveled when others shared elementary school memories, or a perfect memory from high school. I don’t have those kinds of in-depth memories. One morning while struggling with the sentence structure and grammar in something I was writing, a portal to a memory opened. I remembered the name of my high school English teacher – Mrs. Bush. I saw her silver-gray hair, pale white skin and short statue dressed in the non-descriptive clothing she wore. She taught me the grammar and sentence structure that has informed me since. I had forgotten her name, but she lives in me. You are the recipient of her teaching through me. Another portal opened on Sunday morning. I remembered a cake that my mother baked sometimes during the week for dinner, syrup cake. I found the recipe, made it for Sunday’s dinner and told my great- great nephews about their great- great-great grandmother as we ate it.
The best take-a-way from the period of increased introspection is this. I am like an open treasure chest. I have explored much about myself – especially the shiny and easy to reach out and touch parts of me. I have discarded stuff as well – quite a lot. I now have a clear understanding that there is more treasure buried under the dirt and grime of ego and lack of self-awareness to be discovered. Forty days could be equated to the trowel that an archaeologist carefully uses to scrape away thin layers of dirt to get to the big reveal. It is labor intensive work, but it is so rewarding and rejuvenating. Please try it.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT--- “The unexamined life is not worth living.” -Socrates
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