Walking Retreat - Day 1

The next series of blog entries were written the old fashioned way (long hand on paper) during my most recent travels up north. I used the four days as a sort of “walking retreat” where my primary focus was reflection and rejuvenation. I feel that the experience was a great success.

Part I:
Sunday May 16, 2010

We find ourselves in Edmonton this morning after a whirlwind weekend of Scholarship Dinner and then an early flight out of O’Hare. It’s amazing what a few thousand miles and a reunion with family in a little house in the country can do for the soul. We’ve missed Greg, Kelly, and Jaxon very much, but our reunion has been seamless as if we’ve never been apart.

I am very thankful for the relationship I’ve found here with my in-laws. It seems almost effortlessly that we’ve quickly become a family. The best part is that my Mom and Dad get along famously with Kelly and Greg – and it’s very reassuring to have that extra layer of support and unity.

Being here, we’ve truly been able to relax. Distractions from work and the tedium of our routine are literally hundreds of miles away. No cell phones reception, no regular internet access, it’s been wonderful.

Here, in the Canadian west, I am reminded that life doesn’t have to be particularly complicated. Sure, if you focus on the minutia (which we all do at times) it can get overwhelming, but on another level life is a series of tough decisions that shape and form us. My life in the last year has changed drastically – for the better mind you – but still a fundamental shift has occurred and must be acknowledged.

As I’ve tried to make sense of life, the world, and my new place/role in it it’s become clear that we are far more than any one aspect of our life. We are more than our job or any labels assigned by others or ourselves. We are potentially all of these things and much, much, more. That is a very encouraging thought.

I have spent considerable time reflecting on the words of Mother Teresa who said, "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

You don't get much more to the point than that.