Living In The Fast Lane

I am now at the half century mark, and looking back, I just shake my head and wonder “how did I get here so fast?”  I don't remember doing it, but somewhere along the way I must have hit the afterburner button!  It's not about getting old and my memory failing me, it's about life going by so fast that it’s just a blur.

As I write this I feel the aches and pains of an abused body.  It all started yesterday.  I got up that morning to take my morning 4 mile stroll with my friend Jesus and had a great time.  I got home and soon found myself alone, with the exception of Paul David, my cousin from California.  Why the two names?  You'll have to ask his mom and dad, but I think it’s because their other son, Jonathan, was a week or two old before they finally named him, so out of fear of that happening again, they gave Paul David two names and thought they would decide later which to use! If you drop by their house you can find them still arguing, did I mention Paul David is 25 

As I was saying, I found myself with too much time on my hands.  It just so happened that I needed something for my computer from Best Buy and since I’m always looking for a way to show the world how young I am and what great shape a guy of fifty can be in, I decided to go get it via the most dependable transportation I had on hand:  a 1960 deluxe model with very high mileage, but made by God himself!  I had decided to walk the ten mile roundtrip to Best Buy and back.

 

It took almost four hours of my life along with dodging some of the most pathetic drivers I have ever seen in my life!  Needless to say, I am now an advocate for no cell phones while driving!  From a walker’s point of view, those cars were all over the road, swerving and dodging pedestrians while smiling and having a good ole time with whoever was on the other end of the line.  And all the while, my life was in danger!

 

As I walked the same roads that I have driven many times while doing my own share of swerving and multi-tasking at sporadic speeds except I do it with style and greater precision. As I walked I noticed everything.  I noticed which houses had dogs and which dogs had chains. I even noticed how long each chain was!  Hardly anything escaped my attention – the colors of homes, flowers and landscaping, which house needed repair.  I was just blown away by all the detail I have missed driving down these same streets through the years. 

When we slow down, we notice the things we missed while speeding by, but what really struck me was that I had no idea how much I didn't see until I walked. I have been married almost thirty three years, have raised four children, now have seven grand children with one on the way in the jungles of Vanuatu, and I wonder how much I missed in their lives while speeding through life with the after burners on.

 

The problem is, I'll never know what I missed.  If you’re a young parent with children in the house, it's a big mistake to speed through life.  You can't possibly know what you’re missing until you slow down.  By getting out of the fast lane and possibly even having less of what the world has to offer, you will have far more time to enjoy the things that really matter. 

   

Walk sometime and you’ll be far more aware of all the crazy drivers out there who don’t have a clue as to what they’re missing. 

By the way I'm still hurting from that walk!  I think I need a tune up, maybe even a new motor! If I were to check, I’d probably find out that God has issued a recall on all 1960 models!