Persevere

Persevere: to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement

Walks with my dog are usually squished in between this and that.  Whether the day is rushed or not, I have a constant clock ticking. It’s a clock that says move faster, go quicker, beat the time you had before. I constantly race against myself to get the things I feel I have to do done more efficiently than before.  It’s a fault.  One I cannot seem to break. When the steps were flying and the dog was racing to keep up with my hurry, an older couple staled us. They looked mature in years, but so young in love.  He wore baggy jogging pants and her wrinkled hand grabbed on tightly to his arm. And they walked quite literally as slow as snails. At first I thought to myself, how inconvenient, right in the middle of my gold medal walking performance, a road block basically stopped me in my tracks. But then, I became captivated at the beauty of their gentle pace, the way they looked into each other’s eyes as they casually chatted away, and the soft but strong goodness that he led her with. I wondered why the world wants to rush love. What are we in such a race for? Just like life, we want it to hurry up and happen. We want the milestone anniversaries, the lovey dove holidays, and the chance to scream to the world we found it. But, being so un-young, so not in love, and so used to rushing, this couple slowed me down and made me wonder about a love that perseveres, like the flowers do in winter. It’s the love I want. It’s the love that preserves every obstacle life and it’s rushing throws our way. It’s a slow love that goes beyond what the world will say is good, and right, and the perfect timeline, and looks more like a hand in hand stroll with no hurry on the horizon.