Enjoy What You Have

All of us worry that we’re missing out on things. We work longer, we do more, we cram more into our daily lives because we don’t want to miss out. We spend our lives racing from one thing to another because we must be productive; we must feel like we've accomplished something.  And soon, we forget that life itself is about experiencing the journey, not racing to the finish.

The truth is, we're going to miss out no matter what we do. It’s inevitable. Nobody can do or try everything in the world. If our lives were twice as long, we still could not see every town and city and landmark, read every book that sounds interesting or hike every trail. We will always miss out. The fact is, if you always worry about what you are missing, you will miss out on what you already have.

We need to understand and fight this compulsion to be busy, to do as much as possible. We don't really need to do more, we need to enjoy more what we do. Don’t pack your vacation with plans to see every single highlight of the place you’re visiting; take your time, walk around, meet and talk to people, enjoy what you find. 

You don't have to travel far to see interesting things. A good friend of mine lived in Colorado for a number of years. People from all over the country, myself included, take their vacations from work, spend their money and travel to see the beauty of Colorado. When I asked my friend what it's like to live in such beauty, he said he usually doesn't stop to think about it or even notice it. When you contemplate that for a few seconds, that's pretty sad, but we all do it.

Nobody wants to race to the finish of their life. We all have only so long to live and then we cease in this life and go on to the next phase. Before we shuffle off though, let's try to enjoy the life we have right now.

Monks In Arkansas!



One of the reasons I love road trips to places I've never been is because you never know what you will run across. Imagine if you will, cruising down SH-22, a little 2-lane back road in very rural Arkansas when you round a bend and instead of cows grazing in the fields or the rows and rows of crops you've gotten used to viewing, you see this?

I imagine your reaction would be pretty much the same as mine - "What the heck is that?" So of course I had to take the next right turn and drive up to determine just what I had stumbled across. Much to my amazement, I had found an abbey; an abbey with monks and a young men's academy. I've only been in Arkansas for a relatively short period of time ("relative" being the operative word as I've been here almost 7 years, but Arkansans still consider me to be an outsider since my grandparents aren't buried here) and there's a lot about Arkansas I don't know, but monks in Arkansas? Who woulda thunk it?

The monks of Subiaco Abbey are Benedictines and the abbey has been located a few miles down the road from Paris, Arkansas since the 1870's. Over the years, the town of Subiaco has grown up around it. Where did the name "Subiaco" come from? Subiaco, Italy of course, where Saint Benedict lived as a hermit and where he threw himself into a thorny rose bush to dispel his sinful thoughts of the flesh.

The Subiaco Academy began as a school for young men about 1890 and has evolved into the present day college-prep boarding school for young men from the 7th - 12th grades. They have a pretty good tennis team; football, not so much.


The abbey is supported through donations, fund raisers, through various charities and the Catholic church. They also sell "Abbey Brittle" (tins of peanut brittle) and "Monk Sauce" (red or green chili sauce). Unfortunately, I was there on a Saturday and the on-site shop is not open on weekends. I would have bought several of each just for the cool labels!


It was an interesting place for sure. Everything was immaculately clean, the grass mowed, no dead limbs on the ground from the many wonderful shade-giving trees, very peaceful and everyone was very friendly and helpful. The monk-life is not for me, that's for sure, but you know, I can see the appeal.