I’d had enough of the burning sensation to my eyeballs so I squeezed my lids shut and cancelled out the sun.
I ‘ve been told that gingers have more sensitive eyes than most people. It’s probably true, since red-heads also have sensitive skin, low pain tolerance, and other strange quirks.
I swung my legs over the edge of the dock and placed my feet gently into the cool water. A sigh escaped my lips, and I felt the freedom to let my mind peruse the vast amount of thoughts available to it, with no boundaries or limits!
My mind began to spin, but nothing meaningful came of it at first, so I had to ask myself if maybe I should be doing something better with my time. Maybe I’m not being creative or artistic like I think I am, but I’m actually being lazy. It’s a possibility.
Nevertheless, I stayed on the dock and kept my eyes closed. The corners of my mouth turned up in satisfaction. I knew I hadn’t had the time to think lately, but I needed to. This was like a breath of fresh air!’
If you never take the time to think, life doesn’t sink in like it should. There’s no gravity to experiences- nothing impacts and nothing sticks. I knew I hadn’t slowed down much lately, I hadn’t let life sink in. As funny as it sounds, slowing down helps me to make the most of my time. Without it, there are no lessons learned. There are no depths reached, and no heights climbed.
Something else: Without slowing down, I have no compassion.
Compassion comes when you take the time to see through the eyes of another person. It is developed when you allow yourself to see and feel the pain of another, and this happens when you slow down enough to meet others where they are.
As I sat there on the dock I realised that I needed to slow down and live with intention. I needed to “Redeem the time, because the days are evil.” I prayed that God would take the blindness from my life, that I could see people the way He sees them and live radically. Ignorance may be bliss, but I would rather be painfully aware than ecstatically ignorant. Something splashed in the water and I realised strangely that my eyes were still closed from the burning sun.
It’s easy to keep your eyes closed in broad daylight if discomfort is all you feel when they are open.
Ruth Marie Paterson 