Low battery- Low battery -Low battery!

Low battery- Low battery -Low battery!

That’s the robo voice coming from my portable house phone reminding me to set it properly on its cradle so it can recharge. It makes me wonder if I was born with a low battery? You might not hear it but my spirit and my bones are often echoing- ‘low battery, low battery, low battery’! I find myself pulling myself along wishing I was one of those high energy people - out and about experiencing all life has to offer. I unfortunately am a confirmed homebody and have to conserve whatever energy I was allotted and use it conservatively. Life seems to have drained the life out of me.

My mom used to tell the story of a young boy in her class whose teacher asked him why he was so sleepy all of the time and he replied, “I was born tired”. I think he and I must share the same disposition. I see Facebook posts of people out and about every day, heading to a new adventure, grasping life enthusiastically with both hands- heading to a restaurant, a concert, a party, a benefit, a daytrip and I feel the gravity pulling me back to the quiet of home, the book, the easy chair, the predictable, the homespun.

“Low battery, low battery, low battery.”

But am I missing out? I think I came with a battery that’s needle was sitting right at the ‘need to recharge’ mark. Do we accept who we are or do we keep looking for an outlet, a socket, a place to recharge?

For some the journey is within, for other’s they have a desire to take everything from the outside and bring it all in. From all of this pondering I have come to understand that we are each so different and benefit from accepting who and how we are. There is no need, no race, no contest- to be just like everyone else. Do all of us need to experience all of life’s gusto or can we feel at home just being at home. Can that quiet, that peace, that time of reflection be all that we need in life.

I set my phone properly back on the cradle, not to be reminded of my own low-battery. I fill my heart the best way I know how- with the familiar birds that grace my feeder, the sun shining through the white pine trees, the warmth of that first sip of tea each morning. I bow to the simple, the beautiful, the soulful and am at peace knowing that we each experience life in the manner we are called to.

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