wanderlust


            I love to travel. Every couple months I get the itch to go somewhere and see someplace new. I have been blessed with the opportunities to see many places and I firmly believe each trip has enriched my life in some way. The name for my desire to travel is “wanderlust”. It is the overwhelming desire to get away from the ordinary and experience something new, something extraordinary.

            While there is nothing wrong with this desire, there can be a problem when the wandering creates dissatisfaction with the ordinary. You see, the ordinary is where life happens. This can happen in my faith life too. Maybe you have heard the term “mountaintop experience”, it refers to the over the top spiritual experiences we have from time to time. Remember how Peter wanted to hold fast to his mountain top experience of seeing the transfiguration of Jesus? He wanted to build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elisha and stay there, (Matthew 17: 1- 5). I get that way on my travels too.  I begin to imagine myself living in the different places to which I go. But you know what would happen if I did that? That place would become ordinary for me.  We have to experience the ordinary to truly appreciate the extraordinary.

            When you are suffering a case of ordinary, look around to see what you can do to make it extraordinary by loving someone around you. Maybe an appreciative word or compliment to the grocery store clerk or waitress who is obviously having an exasperating day. Offer a genuine smile to a by passer. You will find, doing these little actions on a regular basis will make a big change in you. Little actions create extraordinary experiences, even mountain top experiences.
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