Find Beauty Everywhere

Our focus needs to be less on ourselves, and more on the world around us. One simple step towards this change in focus is to learn to slow down. When we slow down, we can find beauty everywhere we go. 

Sometimes finding beauty takes a patient eye, and sometimes it jumps out and takes us by surprise. 

Think of some of the things you've seen in the past month that you thought were beautiful. Was it the snow falling outside your window? Perhaps it was your child's smile when you made their favorite breakfast. Did you see a songbird on the feeder, or a beautiful flower at the market?

Several times I have been to The Children's museum of Indianapolis. The centerpiece Fireworks of Glass by Dale Chihuly always makes me want to pause. While magnificent and awe-inspiring when seen from above, I find it most beautiful when viewed from below. There is a rotating reclined bench underneath that gives the observer a wondrous view up through the blown glass. Although, if you are in a hurry, you'll miss it.

I have lived too much of my life being in a hurry. I have missed finding beauty along the way.

That needs to change. 

I cannot change myself, only God can change me. That is the change that lasts! 
As I was reading in Psalm 37, the first half of verse 7 jumped out at me: Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him, fret not yourself...

While I cannot cause lasting change in myself, I can choose to be still before the LORD. I can make choices about my schedule that "fret not myself." I can be patient while waiting for God to change me.

I will choose to find beauty everywhere I go. I will slow down my pace until I see the beauty that God has put around me. With His help I will learn to appreciate the beauty and focus on it. I will find beauty, and share it.