I wanna be like Forest Gump

"My momma always says life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get". If you haven't seen the movie Forest Gump, see it. Some of life's most profound truths come from that movie. My favorite part is where Forest is running, for no apparent reason. His voice over says something like this; "When I was hungry, I ate. When I was tired, I slept. When I was thirsty, I drank."

I find something remarkable in his words. As I coach people, I find this simple wisdom lacking from many of our lives. We don't rest when we are tired. We push and push, even harder. We think there must be something wrong with us when we are tired. What is it about our culture that teaches us to do what we can't, go beyond what we can, and assumes if there is something wrong with the picture, it must be our fault?

I wonder sometimes why we don't listen inside. When we are hungry, why don't we eat? I don't mean by that that we should do whatever, whenever we want. I think that would probably be called hedonism. No, what I mean is that many I talk to don't listen to themselves, their bodies, the spirit of God inside, telling them to slow down, take care of themselves. It is far more the norm to push beyond our limits, go without basic necessities, and damn ourselves when we get sick, when relationships break down, when we end up on medication because we can't sleep.

What would it be like if we were to actually take care of ourselves? Well, for one thing, we would have to turn the control of the universe over to God. We would have to let go of our need to control and manipulate everything in our lives. We would have to trust in something or someone bigger than ourselves. And we would have to release our demands that life go exactly like we think it should. I wonder though, if we were to take care of our physical selves, if we might not just hear from Papa more often. I wonder if we might not do better in relationships since we might be able to pull back from the brink of exhaustion and live more sanely. I wonder if we might find more joy by moving a little slower, not faster.

In a previous blog I talked about talking to Chris, the homeless dude. There was something attractive about the way Chris lived. For one thing, he moved slow. He said he had to conserve energy. I thought that was kinda strange at first, but when I thought about it, he had to scrounge for food, so he probably didn't want to waste the energy he had doing things that didn't renew his body. His needs were simple; food, a place to sleep, and a few things in his pack. Boy, am I glad to be better off than Chris. Then I can have more stuff to worry about, work longer hours to pay for the stuff, and be more stressed out as I try to stay in the rat race.

Maybe it would be a good thing if we all could be a little more like Forest Gump. Maybe it would be good for all of us to be homeless for a few days. Maybe we could get back something very important we seem to have lost.