Don't bury yourself

"I'll get on with my life and relax after I catch up," you say. This may be school, family concerns, health issues, changing an undesirable habit, or other things that compete for your attention. I often feel I mimic the words contained within a poem called "Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening" by the poet, Robert Frost. The words, "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep." fits my attitude, for sure, sometimes. My head clings to a permanent thought inside. It is that I will be ready for, even the finality of death -- when I get everything done, so I keep trying to catch up. Then I'll be ready, I surmise. I think many others have a like mindset. We look forward to that time of comfort, calm and tranquility -- but for now we think, "I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep," and sigh. I wonder how many feel they still have too much left to do, to rest, yet.

We think we will be eventually be ready to finally go home, wherever that may be. It's a subject of which we need ponder. What and where is the destination in which we're traveling? What and where is the end of our journey? Is it owning a plush home and property, children grown and successful, or time to finally sit back and rest? Perhaps your "final" journey is to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, eventually. What and where is that final resting place for which we're all striving -- to see the world or achieve a creative goal? Ah h there are so many choices. What and where are ours?

As I contemplated more, my mind wandered over into, yet, another enigma. As I gave it more thought, my psyche overflowed with new understanding. My curiosity was aroused, significantly, when I heard someone advise, "Don't become so caught up s in working and finishing your goals -- that you "bury yourself." I found that wealth of wisdom to be a valuable tool from which we can all benefit. It was a wakeup call and I tried to apply it to my life. I searched within to see what gems of knowledge and spirituality I could derive from its words. I had never thought, that, in essence, we can bury our self without realizing it. We become so involved in working on our means to our end, we fail to see that although we may be working to bury the undesirable, we may bury what's truly most important, in the process. We're spending so much time on constantly preparing for the future and finishing a thing so we can move forward, that we fail to stop, look and feel what's within ourselves. Will we know who we are and where we're going when all is caught up -- or will we be an unidentifiable someone whom we don't even know? Our identity has become lost in the shuffle. We have become an integral part of what's around us--and of what we've been pursuing. It's alright to have future plans and give them our all, to a point. It's only when our judgement becomes cloudy and we fail to see that the curves in the road aren't taking us where we wanted to go that it's unfortunate. If that's the case, we need to back up and see where we've gone wrong -- ask where God is, in all this. Have we lost the spiritual aspect of our journey? Have we lost sight of where we're headed?

Hopefully, we too, will stop in the woods, experience the quiet, and listen to the whisperings of God. The winds, birds singing, squirrels and rabbits scurrying around -- all bring a sense of wonder and peace. Then when we resume our journey, we're ready to say, "I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." But let us be wary of burying ourselves in the process and remember to stop in the woods from time to time. Then, we too, will keep ourselves above ground, continuing on, with fulfillment, before we sleep.