Recipe for Contentment?
Road trips are not for the faint of heart. There are times on a road trip when you have to really dig deep on the patience button and just surrender to discomfort. But they also offer a new way of looking at time. Now that my children are a bit older and can meet most of their own needs in the car I no longer have to worry about extreme car sickness from careening into the back of the car every few minutes to attend to someone. This road trip I actually read 100 pages of a book when I was off driving duty.
The thing I appreciate most about a road trip is the different pace that it brings. At home, even on a not so busy day, I busy myself with our house, or cooking or cleaning up. I rarely give myself permission to be unproductive. (This is something I'm working on as a summer goal).
But on the road, we have no agenda, we have time. It's interesting that being on Eastern time also changes our perspective of time. Here we are going to be at midnight and waking at 8:00am which seems so indulgent, but here it just makes sense. Even my early riser children are waking at 8am! We get up, make the tea and come sit on the back porch and listen to the birds while we share in conversation with my sister-in-law and her family. We leisurely make breakfast, pack lunches and ready ourselves for the adventure of the day. Our goal is to not plan too much.
We've spent the past few days on outdoor adventures, hiking, cliff jumping and river rafting. These are adventures that take time and if I engage, I can totally lose track of time. I don't remember the last time I've lost track of time. The past few weeks have been filled with preparations for the trip and closing out the school year. It is not lost on me that getting to operate outside of the rat race is indeed a luxury. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I wonder if there is a nugget of wisdom that can creep into daily life. Does it always have to feel so rushed?
Watching my boys jump off cliffs into the river requires a LOT of breath work for me. At times I have to just look the other way, but what stands out most to me is the feeling of being content with where I am. These days on vacation I haven't been looking forward to the next thing, I've just been here.
I notice the fruit of that most profoundly when we do our evening prayer ritual together as a family. One of the questions we ask each other each night is, "What do you need from God?" I have been at a loss for requests the last few nights. I've felt so content that there is nothing glaring out at me that I need.
A slower pace, good people, nature, and some time to think -- I think it is a recipe for contentment. What brings you contentment?
