Sometimes what I really need to do is run away. Travel can hold the ticket to a clearer, better perspective.
over Alaska
I may go to a faraway place and detox from the real world. But there are closer, shorter voyages that achieve similar, lifesaving results.
Drive 200 miles to see an old friend. Spend the hours alone in the car. Singing with the radio. Turning it off to discuss things with God. Questioning. Talking it over. Being heard. Listening.
Or take a long lunch to catch up with someone I haven’t seen in a while. Break down the state of the world as we know it. Pick up where we left off as if the time never passed at all.
Or simply bow out of the room for five minutes. Walk around the block. Step back. Breathe. Remember what’s important. Re-engage with peace.
on the beach in Bali
My favorite psychology professor in grad school once told my class a secret. He said he recommended depressed people go to the mountains or the ocean. I imagine the plains, desert, or forest would work as well.
It is in such places they could come face to face with how small they are and how big God is. Surrender to it and find refuge. Then come home able to move—even if ever so slightly—forward.
Perspective is easy to lose, but not so hard to regain either.
Here you thought it was gone forever, but look. There it is a few miles up ahead.
God’s love is meteoric,
His loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
His verdicts oceanic.
Yet in His largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks. Psalm 36:5-6 The Message
The incredible photos in this post are compliments of Janis and Jeff Jones, my traveling friends who see the value in venturing.
Traveling with the Jones
Between the two of them, they’ve traveled to 80 different countries, all 50 states, and 175 cruise ports around the world.
“Travel, for us, is about personal growth,” says Janis. “It gets us out of our routines and our comfort zones; it broadens our horizons and breaks down our misconceptions. Through our travels, we’ve found people are basically the same despite living under vastly different circumstances and cultures.”
