I recently watched a movie starring Julia Roberts called Eat, Pray, Love (yes call me cheap. I waited until the movie came on cable). The movie is about a woman that walks away from everything, including a marital relationship that is going nowhere, and travels to three exotic places. 
In these three places she learns some valuable lessons about taking time to enjoy life. While I don’t agree with the religious views and values of the movie, I believe we can still adopt this life lesson.
The first place the woman travels to is Italy. Here she learns to truly eat, not just consume, food; taking pleasure by slowing down and enjoying the meal. In Italy they believe that eating should be a slow and pleasurable experience. I personally learned this when I traveled to Italy some years back. I was sitting at a restaurant and the courses of food were brought to me with huge gaps of time in between. I learned that unlike Americans, Italians don’t eat on the run. Instead, they take their time. Life is very short and we must take time out to enjoy it. Jesus says, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He wants us to enjoy life here on Earth and true living comes through Him.
Next, Julia’s character travels to India where she learns to pray and meditate. The Bible tells us to pray always and without ceasing. In addition, it admonishes us, But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:2). In this fast paced world, we don’t seem to have the time to meditate and often hurry from one verse to the next. Taking the time to ponder on God’s Word requires some effort on our part. When we take the time to pray to the true and living God and meditate on His Word, His peace washes over us.
The final leg of the women’s journey takes her to Bali. In this exotic place she learns to love again. The Father wants us to love Him and desires a personal relationship with us. He went through great lengths to prove His love towards us by giving up His only son to die for our sins. He performed the greatest demonstration of love and wants us to experience it. We don’t have to travel to exotic places to learn to eat, pray and love; God has made it available to us in every location and stage of our lives.