It was a long journey for Moses and the Israelites to Canaan the promised land ̶ 40 years of wondering through the wilderness!
Could the powerful God who parted the sea for them, fed them, and remained intimately present by their side (as a cloud at daytime and fire at night time) hastened them to their destination? No doubt that He could. Easily.
Even thought God was blessing the Israelites with daily abundance of His presence, manna, meat, and water ̶ frustrated “are we there yet” echoes oftentimes disturbed their inner peace.
Can you relate this to a time in your life, when the rift between yourself and your goals seemed too wide; and felt more like a winding maze going in circles than a straight line from A to B?
If your life's journey, so far, did not work out EXACTLY as you planned and included some unexpected twists and pop up obstacles; take comfort in knowing that this seems to be the norm rather than exception.
I love discussing Moses’ journey with my little ones who are learning to cope with their own disappointments: My parcel hasn’t arrived yet…, When will our house be finished…, When will the virus end?…
Luckily, there is a soothing balm for the frustrations that may get triggered along our journey's winding paths.
Mindfulness.
Mindfulness is all about appreciating the potential, the value, the beauty, the possibilities... hidden beneath our frustrations with (what we labelled as) unwelcome and unplanned.
It helps us to NOTICE (my favorite word at the moment) and appreciate the unexpected, whatever doesn’t neatly fit with our rigid ways of thinking…
My own twisty, swirly-whirly life journey took me on a tangent away from my teenage dreams; and became more about learning to stay connected with myself and my faith, and living an inspired life (through the tools of mindfulness).
Moving beyond my fixed mindsets and assumptions opened me to finding peace in painting clouds, watching cows graze, allowing inspiration to touch my mind, emotions, and spirit...; freed (at last) from the grip of conditional thinking (i.e. I’ll be ‘happy’ when…)
It was a long journey for the Israelites. What do you think was more important than promised land that God wanted them to experience? Trust in His care? Patience? Humility? Surrender?
What do you think?
Hoping you'll have a peace-filled, inspired, mindful week,
With love,
Bozena