Circular Thought

Riding on a carousel is enjoyable when you are a child. There is something magical about the lights, the music, and being able to ride up and down on a variety of creatures. As I've gotten older the appeal of this ride has faded. A carousel loses some of it's glamour when we realize we aren't really going anywhere when we ride it. There is no sudden drop, change of pace, or big excitement. It is a repetitive cycle that doesn't really make any progress.

While our physical desires may change, we still choose to follow that merry-go-round pattern in the rest of our life. We stick with routines of ease and comfort, foolishly thinking it will take us to the destination we desire. We keep riding around the same track and even get frustrated when we don't end up where we want to go. We have the sense of moving, but those circular patterns of thought, behavior, and sin will never take us further down the road. This is true in our finances, marriages, parenting, and spiritual development. We've settled for acting like children and pretending that we were maturing.

The only way growth happens is when we realize that the soundtrack hasn't changed and this ride we're on isn't taking us anywhere. We have two choices at this point: ignore our lack of progress and maintain status quo or get off the ride and start moving towards a different future.