Experience

Approaching the end of the summer, I went on vacation to North Carolina with my family. I was flipping through my photo album today and stumbled upon this picture. I immediately began to think. To most people, this blue friend of mine is just a device used to kick back and relax alongside the waves splashing upon the shore. But for me, this chair is where I experienced some of my most thought provoking moments. Over 1,000 miles away from home, and I had never been so comfortable. It wasn't the nurturing sound of the waves or the soothing breeze hitting the cabin which sat between the edge of the shore and the pavement. But I felt totally and utterly taken by the fact that THIS cabin, THIS chair, THIS sandy beach shore that my feet have walked on, was all part of someone else's big picture, too. Sure, I was there with my family. We made our own memories. We talked about things that will be engraved in my mind for the rest of my life, but sitting in this chair made me realize that anyone can be in the same place, simultaneously or separately, and be affected by it in completely different ways. By this, I mean that someone before me and someone after me will sit in that same chair at that same cabin on that same beach looking at that same ocean, but not one, and I mean not one, will have experienced it in exactly the same way. In moments that I may have cried, someone else was laughing. When I was thinking in silence, someone was talking over the surrounding noise. While I had a great time with my family and friends, someone else could have had a miserable time and couldn't wait to be anywhere but there. Sitting in that blue chair.

It might sound crazy. It might be a waste of time for most, but since that day, I can't help but envision people that have previously been in places that I've been. I wonder what they looked like, what they were doing and even what they were thinking and feeling while standing in the same places that I stood wondering all these things. Thoughts this overwhelming can make one feel so small, almost insignificant. But then I remember that everyone experiences life differently. Different perspectives. Different emotions. Different thoughts. Different ideas. While I sat in this blue chair to listen to the voice of God and to be filled with knowledge and supernatural wisdom that will have an eternal impact on my life, someone else might have had a little too much to drink, fell asleep in this blue chair, caught too many rays and experienced a blistering that may leave an impact on their life but only temporarily.

Not one person can stand in front of a mountain with another person and know that they are both gazing at its beauty and experiencing that moment in life to the same extent.

Absolutely mind blowing!