Have I Earned It?
Craig Mod is off on another of his long walks of Japan and is writing a pop-up newsletter (subscribe!) along the way. I am feeling this bit from his first missive recently:
To have a day like today feels a bit selfish, even more so after having met Vlad. He wonders, always wonders, if he has earned it. The time alone, the steps, the little interactions, the looking closely at the world. He takes it, he’ll take whatever he can get whenever, and try to be as grateful as possible. What else is there? Tiny men with big sticks upend sanity the world ‘round and all you can do is try to find your footing and push back.
Comments 2
My personal philosophy is that none of us have earned it, and that a moment of peace when you're on a beautiful walk, or looking at a flower, or playing with a child is a genuine gift from the universe, with no need to repay it. I haven't earned that gift, it is given to me freely.
That has taken me down a lifelong path of reflection on what I can really do with that gift. I try as much as I can to enjoy them in the moment, savor them later, and pay them forward as much as I possibly can to the people in my life and community and the world.
Though I sometimes have trouble believing it myself, I think there is such a thing as grace.
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