Jason Sepac
Take Your Time
I believe in taking your time. We've all been guilty of pouting in line as the person in front of us debates whether they want a double shot of espresso or the coconut soy chai to jump start the day. More often than not, its seems like the faster we want to go, the longer that person takes to decide, the more our anxiety grows, and the less we are able to think about anything other than this perceived mini-crisis. All to often we're unable to see anxieties that we've created and to take the time to notice everything we've been missing.
I can recall a summer about two years ago in which I had been working particularly long shifts as a bus boy and kitchen worker. I had fallen into a banal routine that consisted of mostly eating, sleeping, and working. So, when I saw that I finally had gotten a long weekend off from work, my father and I decided that we'd take a few days to rejuvenate ourselves by heading into the wilderness for some camping, hiking, and rafting.
Our first day was dedicated to white-water rafting. Since it was only my father and I, we were paired with a family. I should note that the father of this family was quite serious about his rafting. As my father and I soon found this out, he had designated himself captain of our boat and shouted things like "Pull! Right. . .my right! Just let me do it!" We'd spent the day paddling hard and making our way around some challenging rapids, so by the last hour of our journey down the river we had grown quite exhausted. As we came near the end of our route, there remained one last obstacle in the river - a huge boulder shaped like a spike set directly in the middle of the river. Our captain frantically shouted orders, "Go left! No, right!" As I panicked, looking at the boulder in front of us, I stopped, attempting to compose myself, and I saw an image that I will never forget. I looked at the boulder and followed its sharp tip into the sky as if it was pointing to the huge mountains straight ahead that seemingly devoured the river that ran through them.
We passed the boulder, with no real assistance of the captain. In fact, amidst the confusion on the boat, as we all let go, the river naturally took us past the boulder without incident.
After we passed that point in the river I asked, "Did anyone else see that?" The Captain replied, "Of course, we almost hit the damn thing!"
The Captain in all of us is often too concerned with controlling the direction of our own hypothetical boats when in fact letting go is all we need to move on. We all have boulders in our lives that seem so daunting and overwhelming that we can't see what lies beyond them, but when we let go and take the time to notice what's around us, we realize everything we've been missing.
About Jason Sepac
Jason Sepac is a senior double major in English and Religious Studies. He will begin his graduate work in English Literature in the fall at Boston College and hopes to eventually earn his Ph.D. and to teach at the college level. His favorite thing about Mercyhurst is the genuine compassion that exists among the students and the faculty.