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Sunday morning.
Up and out the door before seven with the boys to walk along the river. Just as we made the first turn down the river path, I spotted two hot air balloons beginning their air excursions positioned amongst a clear Bend Blue Bird sky (aka as cloudless and pristine).
Of course, I considered how I might best capture them in a picture as they are only seen a few weeks each year. I snapped a few photos quickly, walked a hundred feet, and snapped a few more. This rhythm of snapping and walking continued for about a quarter of my total walk. A walk that was peaceful and calm and accompanied only by other early-bird walkers and exercisers, the ducks and geese and the surfers who wanted to ride the waves without the crowds that throng later in the day.
As I neared the half-way turn of my loop, walked over the bridge to the other side to return back to my vehicle, I had all but forgotten about the hot air balloons as they were behind me. None of my shots were able to capture them in anything more revealing than a pin prick speck in an image, but I held them in my mind’s eye.
Our last stop before loading back into the car and heading home for a leisurely breakfast was the river for the boys to lap up a few more drops of water which was just a mere 10 meters from where I was parked. As we turned around to unleash and load up, what floated above the treeline just above my car was one of the balloons I had bee trying to capture my entire walk.
I chuckled audibly, grabbed my phone, snapped THE pic you see above, and immediately absorbed the lesson: Our journeys are meant to be enjoyed, and so long as we are on the path of conscious intention, we will achieve or arrive (depending upon what you seek) where we desire in a regular ordinary moment unknown but precisely on the universe’s schedule so we might fully appreciate and not toss away blithely.
At this moment in my life, this particular lesson re-presenting itself is very poignant. I look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks and months, but until then, perhaps there is something in your own life you are impatient about or anxious about or dubious about. If my experience can comfort you in any way, know that in time, so long as you are taking the proper steps that are taking you in the direction you desire, continuing to grow in ways that bring your awesomeness to light, you will too will look up one day when you least expect it and see a hot air balloon dancing above your vehicle.
~SIMILAR POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
~Your Unique Journey — How to Navigate It Successfully, episode #178
~Remember to Embrace Your Unique Journey
~Why the Journey Surpasses the Destination
~The Journey and the Destination
~Why Not . . . Trust the Timing of Your Life?, episode #85
You are very good at capturing simple life lessons that appear on your path. Thank you for this one, Shannon!
I have been reading a book over the summer, “Designing Your Life”, and it has struck me several times that it aligns with your approach to life. It employs design thinking methods to clarify the direction of your life. You may want to look at the description and see if it resonates with you.
Designing Your Life: Build a Life that Works for You http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26046333-designing-your-life
Wishing you a lovely summer!
Thank you for sharing. 🙂 And May you have a wonderful summer as well.
I randomly spotted this blog on Pinterest. That is my balloon. If you are ever in the Willamette Valley during the summer give us a call. You can come see the balloon up close and personal any time!
Ah, thank you Sally! What a beautiful balloon! I hope you had a wonderful time in Bend this weekend, and thank you for the invitation. 🙂
I work for New Jersey’s largest balloon festival and I have worked there for years. Your comparison of the need to be patient and ballooning is so true. Every year on the last weekend of July I wake up at 4 am to go to work in a small NJ airport to assist in the balloon launch. For years I thought of it as a job but recently I realized how lucky I am to witness a beautiful sunrise over the treetops, experience the thrill of watching over 100 hot air balloons inflate and be taken away by the wind. This experience is special and one that only a lucky few ever get to see especially happening right in front of them. But more importantly, is that it has taught me not to be impatient. As I have to say several times during the launch to anxious balloon watchers, they will go up when they can but watch the inflation because every part from the laying out of the massive balloon, to blowing it up and the liftoff is the experience of ballooning so just sit and enjoy. And who knows your patients just might pay off with 100 balloons floating over your head. Which is a perfect metaphor for life.
I love your podcast and blog. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with all of us.