I am sitting at the table by the window at the bookstore. A mom is carrying drinks with her young son. He is maybe 4 years old. As I watch them walk to the car. I notice that she is focused on getting to the car while keeping her son safe and not spilling the drinks. The little boy, on the other hand, is having fun walking. He does a little side kick with each leg. Then he does high stepping marches. He finds something fascinating on the ground and stops to look at it. 

He is focused on the journey to the car, not the destination. 

How often do I focus only on where I am gong, waiting to arrive there, wherever there is: a travel destination, an errand or a writing goal or dream. What about all the time and space in between? I understand that it’s the journey not the destination but to see it played out in front of my eyes in such a simple way is shifting something.

It reminds me of a book I recently read, “Four Thousand Weeks—Time Management for Mortals.” If we live to the average age of 80, we get four thousand weeks. What am I doing with each one if I am always focused on the next thing? Always impatient to get to the next thing instead of enjoying the process it takes to get there.

For example, instead of focusing on getting to the healed version of myself through therapy and seeing each therapy session merely as a stepping to get to that desired place, I can just appreciate each session as it is. Knowing that there is actually no final fully healed/fixed version of myself waiting for me. There is just the me now, trying her best.

Instead of only focusing on getting traditionally or self-published, I can focus on enjoying each time I show up to the page. All the pages I have filled. All the stories, essays, posts, poems I have written. Sure, they are stepping stones to eventually been published more widely, and they are just as essential on their own. 

Savoring the journey takes the constant pressure off to do and achieve the next thing, as if the next thing will change my life. When actually, living in this moment and the next and the next is the thing that will truly change my life.