Racing: The Way It Oughtta Be.

Lately, the semester has begun to really pick up. It's becoming the whirlwind of business that I craved all summer long. I'm the type that really does enjoy having lots to do, keeping occupied and tasking. This year is no exception. Things are a little different this year though. Being a senior, I feel a little more...I don't know the right word...important (maybe?). It's probably the senioritis kicking in, but the way I see it after three long years of strenuous, hard work, I'm entitled to a little senioritis. I think any senior is. So I'm enjoying my classes and such a lot more than I have in the past because the finish line is so near. But then I stop and consider just how near that finish line really is. It's close, folks. Real close. Where did the time go?

The past week or so, a common theme has been appearing in my daily life: the race. I've been thinking a lot about it. Here I am, a senior in college, on the verge of independence, adulthood, and the real world. In May a nice gentleman will hand me a piece of paper declaring that "I have brains" and then I'm off. So...then what?

I don't mean to pull a Carrie Bradshaw here, but I couldn't help but wonder...

What are we racing towards?

I read an article for a class recently that used a pretty clever analogy in regards to this subject. The article talked about a racing dog who had given up his sport. He was pretty content in his quitting and his friends asked him why he quit. The dog replied, "Oh, I just realized that the rabbit I was chasing in the races was made out of wood. So I stopped chasing it." Wow. I don't know. That just hit me hard.

What is a wooden rabbit for me & you?
A diploma/degree?
A relationship?
Money?
Stuff?
Food?
Places?
Ourselves?

Then at church on Sunday, our pastor talked about how there is a difference between what we place on the alter and what we place on the throne. Wam, bam! God has a weird way of showing up and telling us things, doesn't he? I'm thankful for God's persistantness because I, as a soon-to-be college graduate, need to be constantly reminded to put God first. In all I do. That way I don't end up chasing a wooden rabbit. God wants to hear about our problems and our wants, He does. Talk to Him. Put those things on the alter. Just not on the throne. Ya dig? (It's not easy.)

Since rehearsals started for our fall production, my life has fallen back into it's usual routine. Get up-get ready-eat-class-eat-class-work study-eat-rehearsal-homework-dead I MEAN bed. It's nutso. Although I enjoy my classes and I enjoy rehearsals, I can't help but feel the stress of it all, especially at the end of every day. I sometimes have trouble sleeping. I don't feel like I have too much on my plate...maybe I do...I don't think I do. But that's not the point. The point is that I can't let myself sink. I sank last year and let me tell you it was not pretty. At least not from my side. It sucked. Sinking sucks. I simply refuse to sink ever again, so help me God (seriously, God help me out).

In this whirling cyclone of my life, it's very easy to put other things on the throne and not on the alter. It's very easy to start chasing wooden rabbits. I keep adding new things to my list of what I want to accomplishing spiritually this semester...

Be patient
Stop worrying
Keep your priorities in line
Find out what's really important
Be on time for stuff (not spiritual really but punctuality never hurt anybody)

The more people use the metaphor of life as a race, the more it annoys me. I don't want to think of life as a race. Maybe because I think like a sprinter and I just don't want it to go whizzing past. No. If I am going to think of life as a race, can I just be racing towards eternity? That way it's not really racing towards some kind of means of an end. More the means of a forever. That's more motivational. And if I'm going to be racing towards eternity, what do you think I need to keep my eyes on?