it was one of those moments where you begin your day and wonder what you want to do with it. I stood there, having taken care of all that depend on me and it was only about 5:45 am
Typically that type of realization is accompanied by a “Where will I find a good spot to shoot a sunrise?” But this time, I was in need of something a little different.
I realized I had good timing to get down early to Tampa and see what was happening there. You see, today is Labor Day and unlike most other Mondays the traffic heading downtown was likely to be almost nothing.
I wasn’t wrong. There was very little traffic on the road and I was down town at the University of Tampa in no time.
I meandered across their grounds that stretched down to the Hillsborough River and took some pics of the downtown skyline from there. I was using the ultra wide lens as well as my ordinary 28mm lens and even though there was nothing spectacular in what the sky was doing, I still enjoyed the change of pace being down there gave me.
I have put a small selection at the end of the blog. Hope you find something there to enjoy.
It was on the way home that I began to think about the change of pace and how it made an otherwise ordinary morning feel special.
We tend to run our lives at a single pace. There are people who are rabid go getters and others who just drift slowly through life. And there are many levels in between. For everyone, their own pace is right for them and depending on how a person is driven, they will be best served by a pace that matches the drive.
Personally I think I am reasonably driven and it tends to run things at a pretty solid pace. This is why disappearing onto a trail and just relaxing into nature for a few hours is a great getaway for me.
Getting away from our regular pace is good for a person. Particularly if we are on the right pace of life in the first place. Such a change allows us to recharge or restore if our normal pace is fast or exhilarate and pump ourselves up if our pace is more sedate.
It isn’t that the new pace itself is something we wish to sustain indefinitely but it is the contentment and reassurance that it brings when we return to our normal mode of living.
If we are indeed on the right pace for us, initially, then when we come back to it, there should be a feeling of normality and correctness when we resume.
If we don’t get that, then we are likely not on the correct pace initially and we should reassess where we want our lives to take us.
Otherwise, we end up on our deathbed wondering what did we do with our lives (if we should have been more driven) or how did we not take time to smell the roses (if we raced through it all too quickly).
So, I guess the point I am trying to make here is that if you look at the past month and can’t see where you did something that was completely different to what you normally do, then try to resolve to do it in the coming month.
A change of pace is therapeutic and there is nothing wrong with a little healing therapy every now and then.
… just a thought.
