FOMO to JOMO.

I like being home, in the country, away from the city. The green hills punctuate the horizon, there are no skyscrapers blocking the sunset scene, the air is fresh and this morning a red rose is blooming outside my door. My daily company consists these 5 people, and they do have a special way of getting on my nerves, but it’s the good and necessary type of annoying. Then I pick up my phone to do my online rounds and then boom, FOMO. Relatable?

I’m not normally this type of person. I mean I pride myself in having quite the capacity for mundanity. I’m a ‘Joy Of Missing Out’ type of person. And really, I am the one who’s been singing the, ‘I want to home,‘ chorus to my friends for about  5 months. But now, guess who’s having FOMO? Well, not now; a couple of days ago because I refused to remain there. Suffice to say though, it is helpful as much as possible to not be surprised at yourself. That way we can all get about the business of growth. And shall we?

I am yet to hear a healthy expression of FOMO. That can be another discussion. Today,  let’s address this as an emotional illness.

It is becoming more apparent that we are losing our capacity for quiet and even, downright boredom. Developers know this. Just watching a 30-minute video is becoming a challenge for people. So now we have YouTube shorts. We want constant stimulation.

If I’m seated outside our place watching birds, I’m missing out cause someone else is on a plane for further studies overseas. If you’re in the throws of grief and can’t even take calls, you’re missing out cause your friends are at the concert. If I’m a minister, I should be in a mission somewhere in the North East than at home teaching my nine year-old about the tower of Babel, else, I’m missing out. Whose metric system is this? I believe we have been deceived.

There’s nothing wrong with further studies or good godly music or missions, but what makes them better than the other things mentioned? I hope that we learn to throw the hard questions at our feelings. I hope that our perception of reality is informed by truth and not human traditions.

The man at the top of the mountain called accomplishment, after all was said and done, under inspiration said:

KJV Ecclesiastes 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Life is not a perpetual summer. We will have seasons of quiet and seasons of activity. Seasons of love and of grief. I implore you to read the whole of Ecclesiastes 3. And we must learn to preach this to ourselves.

I know for a fact that I could not handle one more metro ride by the time I was set to come home. Even if it was headed to my dream job. I am happy to be where I am now. I needed it. The quiet has rejuvenated my soul. When it’s time to go back to the city, I hope I will also be willing to embrace that season too. I am missing out on nothing! Neither now nor then.

I submit to you, that the only way you are missing out is if you are not present and faithful with where you are now. If you are, then yours, is the Joy Of Missing Out.