Eddie Lowe
Just A Thought
I remember studying in school about Ponce de León. It was said he came to Florida looking for the “fountain of youth,” a magical pool of water that would reverse the years. Today in St. Augustine, Florida there is a park named after this mythical fountain. It’s funny to do a Google search and discover that under the heading “Popular times” it says “usually busy between nine am and four pm!” You can even buy tickets. How grand that would be if it were real. And if it were real, I’m sure it would be more busy. For this month, we want to look at how we manage our stress levels. I’ll tie in what helps me. It doesn’t consist of a magic pool of youth-granting water but it does require a trip back in time.
As I crossed the bridge, I could see the river stretch out before me. As I pulled off the side of the road, I could hear the churning of a rapid. Getting closer, I surveyed the eddy it created. I picked a spot for the first cast. My feet dipped into the cool water of the Mitchell River and suddenly, if only for a second, my mind jumped back in time thirty-five years. One of my passions as a teen had been trout fishing and I’d denied myself the privilege of going for many years. Now, it’s my portal back in time. We all have such a gateway leading to a passion long left behind.
But what happened? Why would we stop doing something that brought us such joy? We get busy doing life. There are bills to pay, and a job to do, and kids to raise, and problems to solve, and so we tuck away a magic moment as if we will come back someday. Sadly, in many cases, we never come back. After all, there’s no money to be made at the river, nothing at home will get fixed. So why go in the first place? Because something does need fixing and that something is you.
In the year 1989, just before graduation, some friends and I hiked up to the top of Buffalo Mountain. This was before it was a park. The view was astounding. I let twenty-seven years pass before hiking up again. That twenty-seven years spanned lots of ups and downs. But as I neared the top, all the memories flooded back of a warm spring day for an eighteen-year-old boy who was graduating in a few hours. If somehow I could magically meet my younger self on top of the mountain, I’d say, “Be sure to come back more often! It will do good for the soul.”
Of course there are some things we’d be foolish to go back to. My friends and I would cruise around Elkin in the late 80’s. I don’t think the people of Elkin would appreciate me riding around in circles blasting music. But every time I go to Elkin, as I enter downtown, my mind rushes back to the bumper to bumper cruising traffic and the joy it brought.
My point is, we all have something we used to do that brought us joy. Generally, we know it when we say, “I haven’t done this in years!” Your passion may be far different than mine but the point is, it’s ok to take some time for yourself. For some reason we deny ourselves this. At times we feel that only we can do our job and it must get done that day. And so time rushes on and we never look back and many times we forget how good it is to be us! Sometimes it is as simple as giving ourselves permission to pull off the road and get out.
To close, I’ll use an illustration to tie it all together. Once I had the task of digging a long ditch. It was in the heat of summer and not easy. As sweat poured from me, I looked at how far I had to go and my heart sank. So I took a chair and instead of placing it at the end of where the ditch would be, I put the chair a few feet out from me. I’d dig until I got to the chair and then take a break. My point is, I found and made a place to take a break. It’s ok to relax. Go back to something good that brought you joy!
