Just Keep Swimming…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a few random things. Yet it seems they strangely revolve around a common theme. Maybe it’s just my mind buying into the idea that they are all related in some significant way. Regardless, I find myself contemplating the notion that maybe there’s something significant to this apparent theme which is swimming through my thoughts as of late.
With a new year, of course the age old resolution to lose weight has encroached upon my daily life. It’d be nice if that certain pair of jeans would fit again. So I think about what that will require. Movement is a good place to start. Winter always slows me down. Blankets and cozy couches make for great destinations during winter’s cold temps and early darkness. So I ponder the certain law of physics which states that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion. Hmmm…, maybe I need to get moving.
Then, prior to me actually implementing the movement idea, my daughter wants to watch Finding Nemo—a great movie that nearly always brings me to tears in the opening scene where his mother, well… you know what happens. Anyway, at a later point in the movie, Dory starts singing the little refrain of “just keep swimming, just keep swimming” as she frolics along in the ocean alongside Nemo’s dad. She doesn’t really know where they’re going, she just knows they’re on a mission and that moving ahead is the right thing to do.
Finally, while taking in the sounds of a new CD, I hear lyrics that exhort the listener to “get up” and “escape” when faced with compromising circumstances. Once again, movement is the order of the day.
We’ve all witnessed what a lack of movement can do. Not enough activity each day, and we all put on a few extra unwanted pounds. Not enough initiative toward a mission or purpose, and we miss out on opportunity or achieving goals. Not enough motion to escape a compromising situation, and we fall prey to brokenness or discord.
I’ve also witnessed people who are trying to make a move, to work toward a solution, who at times have had no other choice but to stay in motion due to a real and well founded fear of losing life and all they hold dear. They may not have the option to stand still very long, and indeed they keep moving until something either allows or demands them to stop. Still, for some, once finding refuge in some new realm of a foreign society, they are forced to stay at rest, without motion, due to real and ill- founded circumstances they have inherited from others.
I’m not entirely sure of the conclusions to make with all of this. However, when I think about the plight of others, and how these extremes of motion and rest play out in their lives, I realize that my privilege has afforded me the very struggle I currently face. My need for movement stems from my wealth of comfort. And as I consider the notion of mission and purpose in life, I realize that I have no excuses for not moving ahead toward the next right thing. If I ever find myself in self-imposed troubling circumstances, I should reflect on the fact that I can likely choose my destiny and set into motion what is necessary to escape.
And for all of us, in all of life— after each well earned rest, may we always find the resolve to just keep swimming.
-Angie
recent comments