Chase Down Pink Skies

“Never allow waiting to become a habit. Live your dreams and take risks. Life is happening now.” ~Paulo Coelho

​During the month of April, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and embarked on a long and much-needed bike ride (then just yesterday, we received about an inch of snow in the middle of April, so Michigan really enjoys playing jokes on its residents). It was breathtaking—wind in my hair, sun on my face, and invigoration running through my veins. After finishing up my adventure, I parked my bike in the garage and turned around to witness a magnificent sunset.

The sky became overwhelmed with fluffy white clouds, orange streaks painting the scene, and my absolute favorite: the smallest hints of pink dotting the clouds. I love when the sky turns pink. Paralleled with the blue, it makes everything look like cotton candy. I sat down at the end of the driveway to enjoy the beautiful scene when my phone buzzed, indicating a text message had come in.

I wanted to wallow in the wonder of the sky but found myself enticed to glance down at my phone and respond to the text. Temptation got the better of me, so I took a moment to play on my phone and assumed there to be all the time in the world to finish watching the sunset.

With the message sent, I peered back up to savor the pink sky, but it was gone. I felt disappointed to have wasted time on my phone and missed the beauty of the sky right in front of me. It took this seemingly insignificant encounter for me to learn an important lesson.

This was obviously a trivial circumstance and not that big of a deal, but it gave me perspective for later when more important moments present themselves. In life, we don’t always have as much time as we think. My disappearing pink sky served as a reminder that I need to grasp these moments while they’re present. It’s easy to put things off and say:

“I can do that later.”
“There’s time.”
“I’ll put this off for a while longer.”
“I’m too scared. I’ll wait for the right time.”

We can give ourselves a thousand different reasons to push aside what we want—I’ve fed myself these excuses more than once—but at the end of the day, our dreams will still be waiting for us until we decide to chase them down.
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I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on the really important pink skies of life.
What does chasing down pink skies look like? I’m not entirely sure, but I imagine it looks a whole lot like pursuing an edifying relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic, a job tailored just for you, or a fun social opportunity when sitting at home comes much easier. I want to chase them down, savor their presence, and be ready and awake enough to pursue the next pink sky. I pray we all live life this way.

There’s a big world out there that’s ours for the taking. What are we going to do about it?

Questions for Reflection

1. I shared that one of my favorite sights is pink strewn across a blue sky, giving it the appearance of cotton candy. What is one of your favorite sights that brings you peace and contentment? In other words, what is the thing that reminds you of God’s vast beauty and creativity?
2. What is your “pink sky?” What can you do to chase it down?
3. Is there something in life you wished you had chased down but didn’t?
4. Why do you think we let moments pass us by? Fear? Distraction? Something else?