Stay

Each generation has its own challenges. I’m worried that in ‘not trying to become our parents’ we may be becoming something worse than what we fear. I worry that in running away from the previous generations conservatism that we may lack consistency. One challenge that I’ve noticed about my generation is the minimalized desire to stay with anything. Our parents, if were honest, bore us because they were at the same job forever. Or in the same town, or in the same house, for as long as we could remember. They did the same things often. They stayed with things even when it wasn’t healthy to stay. My generation watched this behavior and decided in our hearts that that would not be us. And so, we go.

We hop around from career to career. We move often. We break up. We start up. We don’t stay with a thing if it doesn’t feel right. We’re carefree. We love the chase. We love a change of scenery.  I’m worried that this behavior may have weakened our staying power. There is beauty when you stay. You get the gift of watching things change around you when you stay. You grow in character and commitment when you stay. You learn to love where you are. Many of us are afraid of being still, but from the stillness comes an abundance of virtues. Before we rush off again, we should consider why we are rushing. The thing that we’re chasing could already be where we are, if we were still enough to receive it. Sometimes the place doesn’t need to change but we do. We need to grow and sometimes that growth can only come through staying.

There is a strangeness even in the very word stay. Verses the word go. We don’t really trust staying, going is much more comfortable. Stay is an invitation to settle. Which is another word I believe our generation is terrified of. Settle. Slow down. Stay. Be here now. All words and phrases that work against our constant movement. Movement is good, but stillness is too.

Why Stay? Stay because maybe the world needs the settled version of you. Take your time. In fact, take time, and sit with her. Stay. Stay because you can, not because you have to. The decision is yours, and even though it can feel like confinement, staying is what could gift you with the congruency you’ve been searching for. Stay because deep, meaningful, loving, connections often take longer than you think. Stay because your body is here and your mind is not, and maybe in staying, we allow our mind to finally catch up with our body. Stay. Stay because being with the right people in the right place is a divine gift. All of us are running from something. But I pray that you don’t run away from the one thing that could rescue you from your striving and give you peace. Stay and find out.