In my college years, I was wandering and lost. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do or whom I wanted to become. After many years of searching I finally decided to pursue my education degree - WHY? The bottom line, I wanted to become a teacher because I was interested in having an impact on lives.
In my adult years, I have resigned to that same philosophy - I want to devote my life and my time to meaningful things.
Here in Seoul, one of those thing for me is TRES DIAS.
Tres Dias is a Spanish word for three days. Can you think of the last time when you had three days free? Three days without a cell phone, a computer, or a watch? Three days to just relax and recharge?
Back in November of 2010 I was able to attend my first Tres Dias weekend. It is hard to describe this intense time of fellowship, renewal, healing and unconditional love. The only way to identify is to experience it for yourself. The weekend had such an impact on me, that I decided I wanted to help out and serve other women the next time around. Again, investing my life in meaningful things. The weekend of May 12 - 15th about 30 women were cloistered on top of a mountain and stripped of technology and time. It was a humbling experience for them and an incredible learning experience for me. It was powerful watching these women lay down their identities as mothers, teachers, spouses and friends and to just embrace their role as a child of God. A room full of women (mostly strangers) were able to sing together, eat together, fellowship together and become transparent with each other....all in a matter of three days! I am constantly amazed when people are able to be transparent, genuine and compassionate to others regardless of their age, race and gender. In one weekend, bonds are formed among total strangers that will last a lifetime.
The hardest part about this weekend is Day #4. All is great when you are in this 'greenhouse environment' surrounded by like-minded people and released from your responsibilities, but what happens when you have to go back to REAL LIFE? All of us are trying to figure out how to live our day fours. We are constantly having to plod along, bound by the restrictions of time, chained to our calendar, imprisoned by our buzzing Iphone, with children or husbands or needy friends clamoring for our attention. What do we do then?
A friend of mine shared a story with me the other day. He is a science geek and he loves finding out new facts about anything that relates to technology and science. He said that he was learning about the logistics of launching a rocket into space. He said that out of 100% energy consumption, the actual launching of the rocket in that first 60 seconds takes about 80% of the total energy exerted. The time after that first 60 seconds of flying into space, orbiting the moon and then coming back to earth is only 20%. He said that the hardest part is moving an object from sedentary to motion, therefore more energy is required. Once you are out of the launch pad, the rest is easy sailing.
Interesting! That got me to thinking about the weekend. All of the Tres Dias candidates have used 80% of energy to get out of the launch pad. They have attended the weekend and begun their journey. They have moved from sitting to standing. They are on their way! Then that leads me to think about that remaining 20% of energy - sometimes needing to exert 20% of energy is just as difficult.
I was out hiking just this past week on the mountain behind my school. This is my sacred place, my time when I can just be still and not worry about students, stresses or anything else that is muddling my brain. I put on my tunes and start my trek. Ascending the mountain and needing to work off all the delicious food that I had over the weekend, I had on my calorie counting watch and was trekking at a pretty quick pace when I round a corner and an older Korean man is in right in front of me, blocking my progress. This is not unusual, there are many people of all walks of life that hike this mountain. Most of the time I am the ONLY one on the mountain that is sweating profusely and huffing and puffing while the Koreans are not even breaking a sweat and peacefully and gracefully making their way up the mountain. I am a pretty competitive person so I usually set a goal and then push myself to exhaustion to reach the top. Usually I don't even notice the other hikers, but that day what struck me was the manner in which this man was traveling. He was making his way up the mountain, just like me, but at a slower pace. His head was down, his eyes were focused on the trail, he appeared to be pensive and his hands were behind his back. He was intentional with each step. I slowed down and walked behind him for some time and began to think. He is going to reach the top of the mountain just like I am - we both have the same destination. It doesn't really matter WHEN we arrive, it is how we cope with the journey to the top.
Then it dawned on me - THIS is how we get through our day fours - we have a path in front of us - sometimes it is all uphill and at other times there is a nice flat path. We are all on the same journey heading toward the same destination. We can choose to run to the top and are left exhausted, sweaty, smelly and WORN OUT or we can put our head down and be purposeful with all that we do. We need to focus on the path in front of us, place our hands behind our back and place one foot in front of another. It is NOT a race, it is a journey and we need the help and support of each other to continue on our path.
Let's not waste our time and energy running this race called LIFE. Let's take our time and pour our lives into things and people that make this journey meaningful - Live a life of NO REGRETS!
De Colores!
