Enjoy the Journey

I say, "Enjoy the journey!"  Others may say, "Enjoy the moment!"  Either way, it is the premise behind the statement I want to focus on.  So many times I am guilty of making a daily list of chores and errands I need to perform, only to find myself in a great deal of anxiety about getting all accomplished.  This is so I can get on to more pleasurable pursuits.  While I'm performing one of the items on the "to-do" list, I'm anxious to get on to the next thing in order to check it off the list.  The very words "chore" and "errand" already give them a negative connotation, as if they do not have within them any joy or satisfaction for one to derive.  For example, church attendance formerly fell in this category, as horrible as this may sound.  To find myself in the House of God each Sunday was an obligatory responsibility for the pleasure and glory of God.  Who would have thought I could and would gain immeasurable benefit from darkening the door of the church?  (This is an attempt at being facetious and sarcastic.)  My mind would run at great speeds throughout the music and sermon, not paying any attention to whatever was happening around me.  Thoughts of what all I had to do that day in preparation for another week of work ahead of me on Monday.  (Stuff like: laundry, exercising at the gym, grocery shopping, and so much more.)  Yes, I simply was a warm body fulfilling, at least physically, my Sunday requirements.  Another example is running on the treadmill for twenty minutes as part of the exercise routine at the gym.  I see the bulk of what I have to do and can't help but to sigh in a sort of disgust.  In both cases, of exercise and church, along with whatever you care to use to "fill in the blank", I suggest enjoying the journey of the moment.  I'm there!  Why waste my time not paying attention?  Especially when I can give of myself and gain at least some benefit as a result of investing my time and energy at the project at hand.  Enjoying the journey is true for life as a whole, but it is meant to be lived out on the basis of day-to-day living.  Keep the bigger picture in mind, but remind yourself of that bigger picture in the details of daily life.  Often I mumble to myself, "Enjoy the journey!"  Other times, I share that nugget of truth with others.  To one and all, I proudly proclaim, "Enjoy the journey!  Enjoy the moment at hand.  Soon it will be gone forever, never to be recaptured again."

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