Appreciate the Journey

When my wife Michelle and I were expecting our first child Samantha, we were very excited, nervous, grateful, curious, joyous, and more as we anticipated her arrival. With all of the books, classes, advice, and conversations we had encountered, most of the focus of this information has been on “preparing” us for the birth and/or for being parents. I have not heard much attention placed upon enjoying or appreciating the journey.

As I found myself often caught in my own internal struggle between planning/worrying about the future and appreciating the magical process of the pregnancy, John Lennon's well-known song lyrics rang in my head, “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”

We live in a culture that is obsessed with outcomes and results. So much of what we do, think about, and talk about is focused on the future. While I do not believe there is anything wrong with preparing, making plans, having goals, and/or pursuing dreams - there seems to be an inherent flaw in this intense attachment we have to preparation and to “success.” What's the point of having all of these plans, goals, and dreams if we don't enjoy or appreciate what we are doing while we are doing it?

We have all experienced some version of “missing out” on something great because our attention was on some goal or some worry out in the future. For many, this is an on-going challenge. Being able to stop and appreciate the journey - regardless of where we are on our path - is essential to our fulfillment in life. Even if where we are is not where we say we want to be, there we are anyway. And, we always have a choice in each moment - to either suffer or celebrate.

This choice of suffering or celebrating is up to us and has everything to do with our ability to appreciate the journey we are on, right now. Instead of waiting to look back in hindsight and realize how perfect things were or to later realize that “everything happens for a reason,” what if we could truthfully and passionately appreciate the journey of our lives in every moment - regardless of the circumstances. We each have this power and ability within us!

ACTION: What you can do

Think of an important area of your life right now in which you have a big goal or dream. In that area and in relation to that goal, make a list of ten or more things that you appreciate about where you are on your journey right now. Once you make this list, share it with three or more people as a way to acknowledge yourself and to publicly appreciate exactly where you are on your journey.