By Mary Purdy

We are learning and running at a very fast rate, science, industry, technology is speeding ahead, and can we keep up in our ordinary lives?
Most of us feel time speeding up more and more and getting exhausted trying to keep up. Most of us feel that the world is out of control, just like the oil spewing out in the Gulf of Mexico, there is nothing we can do, just keep running, faster and faster. Or try to hide away from it all. So, what are we running after or from? What if you and I stopped for 10 minutes and contemplated this question? What am I running after or from?
Well, most of us are running after money to be able to buy things, some of us are running after money just to survive, some of us are running from our own minds, to keep busy so we don’t have to be with the constant chatter of our minds and what needs to change in our lives. Most of us are trying to push something away or grasp it. I have been a workaholic in my life in order to not be with my mind and its chatter about living my true purpose, not do the seeing that was needed to have healthy relationships and not to hear the messages from my body that it was burning out.
I had to crash to finally get the message that I do not need to be running, I can find my own pace and watch others run by, I can choose not to follow the pack. It is a challenge each day not to get caught back in the race, and sometimes I do, but having tasted how my life can be when I get out of the race it does not happen as often and as long. I now listen to my body, it will let me know.
So, with the oil spill in the Gulf, this is a strong message that we cannot keep running. We need to pause and see where we are going and check in on a regular basis, is this way in which we are living our lives what we want for our lives, our relationships, our environment, to be, is this the life we want for our children and grandchildren? We are all in this one boat together; and it needs each and every one of us to keep it afloat.