Mad Rush
Grant Montgomery: On the Mad Rush of Living
The mad rush of living, the mad crush of places to go and people to see, and the maddening stream of problems that need to be solved and conflicts that need to be resolved on a daily basis can make us forget that there’s a world around us teeming with wonders.
If we feel unsettled, it’s probably time to schedule a walk in a natural setting to regain a sense an inner calmness.
How often do we take time to notice the wonders of the natural world on a daily basis—the rainbow after a storm‚ the birds frolicking around your bird feeder‚ the gurgling sounds that water makes while running down a stream or the silvery brilliance of a full moon?
When we make the effort to slow down our pace, and open up our senses to the world around us, we feel the impact such awareness has, in how we feel and how we then live the next moments of our life in gratitude for all that we have.
One way we can develop our sense of gratitude is to pay closer attention to the beauty around us. Even seemingly small events such as quenching our thirst with a cold glass of water, luxuriating beneath a quilt on a cool morning, watching the breeze undo a dandelion puff, or listening to a chorus of crickets croaking and singing on a moon-gold night, are things that, if respectfully regarded, can summon up our gratitude.
Gratitude is free—there is no cost. Nature’s miracles, such as the flowers in bloom, the leaves when they turn bright colors in the fall, or the sky when it’s blue, remind us of these simple pleasures in life.