Taking the Long Way Around

I don’t know when it started, but over the past few years I’ve been craving a slower life. One that isn’t run by the get-there-first culture I’ve grown accustomed to with the onslaught of working on social media, but one that is motivated by love, humility, and a whole lot of Jesus.

 

The other day I was scrolling through my various social media feeds, and within minutes I had at least three different ads and/or friends who were selling things that would be a quick fix. Lose weight in a matter of days, more wrinkle-free skin in weeks, get rich with three easy steps. And it got me thinking about my own life.

 

I remember a time when I would have clicked on every single link, desperate for all of those things and more. It wasn’t too terribly long ago, and I still have my days when a quick fix sounds nice. Wouldn’t it be cool to be 2 sizes smaller…tomorrow? Or infinitely wealthier…next week? Sometimes I think it would, but at what cost?

 

I’ll tell you what cost, because I’ve spent my entire life learning it. The lesson, the wealth, the glory isn’t in getting what we want right now, the richness is smack dab in the middle of the journey. Getting the body you’ve always wanted can’t be appreciated without the work and the sweat it took to get there. The wrinkle-free skin shows no signs of the wear of love, laughter, lessons learned. The instant paycheck may seem shiny and glittery and cool, but without the struggle it means nothing.

 

There’s a Dixie Chicks song, The Long Way Around, and while it’s not specifically about the things I talked about above the idea is the same. Not working for what you get (preaching to myself here) makes for a pretty bland life. Working toward aging gracefully, with zest and grit and humility, being a warrior – that’s the good stuff. It’s the marrow in this life.

 

My commitment for this year is to show up, every day, and do the best I can. It’s to ignore the easy button and work hard. It’s to work for balance, find it, lose it, regain it, again and again. It’s to set and example, as my parents did for me, for my children of what hard work and embracing all of life looks like. It’s to work hard for the body I want, it’s to strive for the success I desire to see in my business, it’s to give my laugh lines a great big giant hug and say, “Thanks for coming. You’re welcome here.”

 

It’s to take the long way around.