Gazelle intensity, Day 125

“People should not consider so much what they are to do as what they are… Thus take care that your emphasis is laid on being good and not on the number or kind of things to be done. Emphasize rather the fundamentals on which your work rests.”
- Eckhart

I started this year with the above quote. And today I need to remind myself of it. “The leaf I intend to turn over each and every day this year is one of simplicity. I desire to navigate the course of this year with respect to life and to love. To abandon selfishness, greed, and lust, to seek out truth, and to execute my steps with discipline; these are my aspirations. These aspirations are vague, yes, but also life changing.” This quote is from my January 1st blog. I’ve been reading through my blogs today and I think I’ve stumbled upon the kick in the pants I’ve been looking for. Somewhere in the so called “living” life that I’ve been doing I almost forgot about simplicity and about beauty. I’ve been so focused; focused on doing thing right, accomplishing my goals, and staying on track that I haven’t been stopping to smell any of the flowers alongside the track.

I am amazed at how quickly I lose sight of a thing. One day I’m amazed, overcome, and made new because of a simple revelation, a simple truth. Two days later I’ve forgotten the truth I thought I learned. I need to do less hearing and more learning. I’m kind of like Dory from finding Nemo, in one ear and out the other. That’s not a good thing.

Dave Ramsey talks about Gazelle intensity. The cheetah is the fastest animal on dry ground but a gazelle can run from a cheetah if it tries hard enough. He refers to temptation as, “look out, CHEETAAAHHHH!!!” I’ve been telling myself that a lot lately. I wanted to go out to dinner the other night. It was NOT in the budget. I had almost resolved that I did not care, I was going to anyway. And then I said to myself, “look out CHEETAAAHHHH!!!” and I ran away.

I feel like I am surrounded by cheetahs right now. They are lurking behind every single tree and hiding in the grass. There are financial cheetahs, accomplishment cheetahs, food cheetahs, time cheetahs, and knowledge cheetahs, the list goes on; all these things that I am trying so diligently to work away from, to grow out of, and to break free of. I believe that no matter how difficult the struggle, no matter how many times I have to shout cheetah and run, no matter how tired my feet get, that if I keep running, keep escaping, and continue to come out alive; I believe that I’ll eventually work my way out of the cheetah infested forest and plains I’ve been living in. The thing I need to remember and to write down really large somewhere is that every time I outrun one of those cheetahs I need to take a little rest and stop and smell the flowers. One day life will be much simpler, much lovelier, and I’ll be a WAY stronger gazelle. I can do it.

Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Proverbs 6:5