Life is the Journey

It’ll be better when I…

How many times have you said that to yourself?  We’re constantly setting the bar higher. My life will be better when I meet that special person, get a new job, lose some weight, have a bigger home, my children are grown.  The list goes on and on.

Do you ever stop to think about what you’ve already achieved?  Do you allow yourself to celebrate the positive little moments? Or are you stuck on believing that all your happiness is tied to a future goal that you may or may not ever achieve.

The reality is that we are taught from an early age that we must always strive towards our goals, strive to be better.  This is good advice to an extent. It’s important to have goals and to work toward them. What we forget is that it’s also important to celebrate our accomplishments. 

Sure, we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, marriages, births, new jobs, but let’s face it those things don’t happen everyday.  Yet everyday we overcome challenges, everyday we go out and try our best. We manage to get up, go to work, take care of our homes, our children, our friends and family.  We shop, cook, and handle hundreds of little tasks everyday. But do we allow ourselves to celebrate those things? Do we even take time out of our day just to appreciate the day?  

Not long ago I saw a quote from Alfred D. Souza.  He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

I read those words over and over again.  I was guilty. I was waiting for the elusive I’ll be happier when …. I get a better job, lose 20  pounds, the weather gets warmer, the kids are out of college….. The problem is that life is going by while we’re waiting for all these things to happen.  The truth is we can be happier now if we just let ourselves enjoy the simple moments and the little celebrations.

It’s not a race, don’t rush to the finish line.  The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now.  Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

So, stop waiting for the elusive points in the future that may or may not happen.  Take the steps to make each day better than the last and enjoy each step along the way.

Reach out to see how we can help you make your space better!