5 Day Slow Down Challenge

[caption id="attachment_119" align="alignleft" width="150"] Scenic Route[/caption]

I will be participating in a 5 day Slow Down Challenge, starting next Wednesday the    28th.  I will be posting my thoughts and challenges based on the daily instructions here, so please check back in to see what is happening next week.

Crossing the Street - you thought your mom taught you

Traffic is a funny thing.  Here in Phnom Penh there are a variety of vehicles that can be found on the roads.  Car, trucks, buses, motos, bicycles, three wheeled tuk tuks, fruit carts, and more.  That does not account for the variety of animals you might run into as well.  For most of the day the traffic flow is rather heavy, so crossing the street can be a challenge.

[caption id="attachment_108" align="alignright" width="150"] Phnom Penh - Traffic[/caption]

I do not know about you, but my mom taught me to come to the edge of the street, look both ways and when no one was coming, cross to the other side.   In my late teens I traveled to London, and was saved a few times, by the signs painted in the road reminding you to look right.  I was always looking the wrong way and would have stepped out into traffic.  Obviously that has happened too often, thus the signs.

However in Cambodia a sign painted on the street would not help.  The traffic, or vehicles can come from any direction, or all of them at the same time.  It took me quite a while to learn how to drive, in the craziness, but somehow it flows together.

This is how it works, because the vehicles are coming from multiple directions, so the traffic is never really moving rapidly;  you just have to step out into the madness.  It requires inner fortitude, to start walking and continue at a consistent pace.

The motos will go around you, but you cannot lose your nerve and stop; the consequence would be that they would probably hit you.  The driver is judging where you will be as long as you continue to move and they are planning to go around.

In the beginning it just about terrified me, but now I step out and walk with confidence and faith that those driving will not hit me but allow me to pass.  Sometimes that means I probably undertake unnecessary risks.

By now you are probably wondering where I am going with all this talk about traffic and crossing streets.  Here it is.  I see a parallel between crossing the street and the way we approach our faith.  If we look both ways and wait until it is safe, we are not challenged, and although it might take some waiting we will get across the street eventually.

The other way, takes a step of faith that those around you are participating in the process and allowing you to move forward even if the circumstances seem congested or a bit scary.  You have to learn to read the patterns and have a high degree of trust in those who are on the path with you.  This is accomplished through stepping out and using confidently moving forward.

My faith is stretched when it is used, not usually while I wait for safety.  I am not advocating that you run with abandon, but that our faith journey requires forward movement, with adjustments along the way to get us to the other side.  Life is never simple nor is the plan usually a straight line.  However the old saying goes, it is easier to steer a moving ship.

Have you ever given crossing the street much thought?

Pausing

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.  Mark Twain

Its Raining Tigers & Elephants

I am sitting at Spinelli Coffee Company in Phnom Penh and looking out my window as it is absolutely pouring down.  A good friend of mine to make fun of sayings we use, in America says it is raining tigers and elephants, he says that makes the saying Cambodian.  The streets are starting to flood, but it has not slowed down the traffic too much - it just makes driving a bit trickier.

[caption id="attachment_63" align="alignright" width="266"] Street #61, Phnom Penh - rainy season[/caption]

The tuk tuks have zipped down their side panels, which protects their riders from the rain, but creates a sauna effect inside the green flaps.  So wet or sweaty, not sure which is worse.

What I am thinking is life is a funny thing.  We take a shower daily and enjoy going to a pool to swim, but rain will stop many people in their tracks; it is just water and water dries.  I understand the problem if you are on your way to an important meeting, but really it is just an inconvenience.   I will freely admit I am having these thoughts sitting cozily in a coffee shop with my hot tea in hand, safe and dry, with no where pressing to go.

One of the things I enjoy about living in Cambodia, is that even though at this time of year it rains nearly daily, life kind of gets put on hold until the rain stops and then it resumes.  It is like pushing a pause button.

Wouldn’t life be great if we had a pause button?  When I was a kid I was always frustrated when I turned off the TV, that when I came back it did not resume the same program I had left earlier.  But alas life does not work that way.

Yes, I have been rambling a bit, but here is the point.  Ready for it.  Life is not the destination it is the little parts that add up to the whole story.  I don’t want my story to be more about staying dry and avoiding the inconveniences of life, but instead shouting Carpe Diem and enjoying each moment as it comes.

I walked out into the rain to take the above picture and guess what I did not melt.  A few strange looks were cast my way, but so what.  I want to venture into a life lived.  I named this blog Two M Ventures for a reason.  I refer to myself as two m because of my initials.  My tag line is “life is a daily adventure.”  But venture can be used as a verb which means to dare, journey, set out, to stick one’s neck out.  This is the type of life I desire.

 

How about you what kind of life do you desire?

 

Time does it Fly or Walk?

Time - Does it Fly or Walk

I was asked the other day what I like most about living in Cambodia.  The answer is quick and easy, the pace of life.  The question asker looked at me a bit puzzled so I started to explain.

In America we talk about time flying by, but in Cambodia they talk about how time walks.  She was still a bit perplexed. I continued, it is a matter of worldview.  In America time is money, which makes it so very valuable to us.  In Cambodia time is plentiful but people are important. So, their day to day, moment to moment choices are different.  Often I want to think that it is wrong, but when I embraced the saying it is not wrong just different, I opened myself up to chance to join in and try something different.

Appointments get pushed off if you are with someone right now.  Whatever you are doing right now is more important than the next thing.  You will deal with the next thing next.  I will freely admit that in the beginning this idea nearly drove me mad.  It always seemed like I was the one waiting around.  When my Cambodian friends would show up and I was annoyed they would look at me with that “What?” expression, not even a shoulder shrug, with no concern that they might be 30 minutes or more late for something.

It took a couple of years for me to ease into this mind set.  I will honestly admit, it was a difficult transition, but one that I am happy I made. I live a much slower life focused on people and relationship rather then the almighty day planner.  Freedom is what I have found. The freedom to choose this moment, not be so focused on the next that I miss this one.  Freedom to pursue relationships, by having an hour and a half lunch.

The main difference I see is in the approach to the day.  I schedule things for the day, but I limit them to 2 or 3 things, not something for each hour slot.  The day flows, I accomplish my main tasks most of the time, but I spend time on the things that really matter people, me included.

One of the first things I noticed when I came to Cambodia is that the crescent moon is on the bottom, where in Southern California it is on the side.  It is a visual reminder to me that Cambodians see the world differently than I do.

I have come closer to their way of thinking, but my Americanness continues to win out sometimes.  Especially, when it comes to consumerism.  I have that urge to buy the newest, biggest & brightest thing.  Where Cambodians are reuse, make do or do with out types.

Again they have been the teachers and I the student.  Pace of life is part of what makes it good, simple and easy.  I have always said that life is a daily adventure and living overseas, has made it better and challenged my worldview.  I believe I now have the best of both viewpoints.

How has your worldview been challenged recently?