Enjoying Life on the Way to Your Dreams

I spend a lot of time on my blog - The Affirmation Spot - talking about pursuing goals and dreams. It is a very important part of life and a significant part of what I believe we are here to do.

However, there is a possible casuality in our undying drive towards those goals and dreams. That casuality is NOW. We can become so determined to reach some future finish line that NOW becomes nothing more than an expendable commodity to be consumed in that pursuit.

We begin to think that we can sacrifice NOW in the pursuit of this gigantic future we are planning. To some extent, we do have to use NOW as a stepping stone towards our desired accomplishments. If we don’t align our thinking and actions with our goals and dreams in the NOW, we will never achieve them.

We just need to be careful not to discount NOW. NOW is a beautiful place in its own right and, as many wise people have pointed out, it’s all we truly have.

The prolific and award-winning American author Ursula K. LeGuin once said, “It is good to have an end to jou
ey towards, but it is the jou
ey that matters in the end.”

The jou
ey is NOW. That’s all the “fly over country” you are covering on your way to your goal or dream. The problem is that NOW is more than merely “fly over country”. It’s the time you sacrifice with family. It’s the opportunities you miss to stop and smell the proverbial flowers. It’s even taking a moment to stop and enjoy the milestones you reach on your way to the big goal.

Don’t forget do enjoy NOW! Your goal or dream will be hollow when you get there, if you have sacrificed too much for it. It’s not an either/or choice. You can enjoy NOW and still be driven to summit your Everest.

Radio personality Casey Kasem has for years ended his broadcasts with the aphorism, “Keep your feet on the ground (NOW) and keep reaching for the stars(your dreams and goals).”

It’s good advice for us all as we walk the road to our personal promise land.nn