I can completely understand how we can become jaded. When we live day in and day out with the same awesomeness it becomes common place. I remember being in Nepal, standing on the upper part of a village, looking at the Himalayas for the first time. It was an awe-inspiring sight, especially to one who had never seen them in person. As I stood there I also mulled over if the locals had become jaded to the awesomeness of the tallest mountains in the word. Had they lived in them so long that it was commonplace? Were they just snow covered land that they trekked up and down daily?
I then thought about my own life – do I appreciate all the wonder around me, both natural and man-made? This is a question I try to keep in mind every day. I never want to lose my sense of wonder. I don’t want the awe-inspiring to be commonplace, I don’t want the wonder of it all to ever go away. I want to drive my car and be inspired by the math, the physics, the artistry, the business, the workers, all the thought and time put into what takes me to and from work. I get in, turn a key, push one pedal and the car moves, push another and the car stops. I turn a circle in front of me it goes one way, I turn the wheel another way and it goes the other way. What a crazy, awesome piece of machinery I use every day! That crazy invention allows me to go to work in 20 minutes that otherwise would take me 4 hours by foot. Man, what a great invention we have and use every day!
Let us not neglect the natural beauty around us – the beauty that was before us and that will outlast us. The Nepali have the Himalayas, I have the Smoky Mountains. What a wonder they are with their wildlife, the streams and waterfalls, the cool shade of the forest, the spectacular display in the fall – all awesome.
It is precisely that desire to never lose my sense of wonder that pushed me to view the recent eclipse. Sure, I had other things I could have done, sure, there were things I needed to get done. And yes, eclipses are not uncommon, they happen fairly regularly. Yet, even though they are not uncommon, there will be another one in 2024, I still wanted to take the time to see the wonder of it. I was not disappointed. Just take a look![/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_slider animation=”slide” slide_time=”1500″ slide_speed=”1000″ slideshow=”true” random=”false” control_nav=”false” prev_next_nav=”true” no_container=”true” pause_on_hover=”true” ][x_slide]
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If you look to the upper left in the eclipse pictures I believe that is Jupiter. I’m still trying to confirm.
Attempt it. Chance it. Try it. Get to It![/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]