Are YOU Enjoying the Journey?

Timing is everything right?

A recent trip to Chicago to work with a new client found me there on the same weekend as: 1. The Notre Dame versus University of Miami football game. 2. Graph Expo, one of the largest trade shows in the United States and 3. A little event called the Chicago Marathon that attracted anywhere from thirty to forty thousand people to the heart of downtown Chicago.  We were all there at one time walking up and down Michigan Avenue and it’s connected side streets.  Miracle Mile indeed.

I had chosen to stay over the weekend because Chicago is one of my favorite cities to both eat in and explore. As luck would have it, my husband was working in Chicago that weekend too and it was a great chance to work + play--one of my favorite combinations (next to peanut butter + chocolate = heaven.)  That Saturday I had the day to myself as my husband was working, so I made my way out onto the bustling streets in search of adventure.  

My first stop would be the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the best museums in the United States, and a spot I had not been to in some fifteen years.  I had on my comfortable and practical footwear and set off for what I was sure would be a fantastic day in this vibrant and fast paced city.  

As it turns out, about a gabillion (100 x a trillion) people had similar plans to go out and seek their own adventures and the sidewalks and streets were littered with busy and “hurry up and get there” tourists like myself.  We were all trying to get from our point A to our point B and at times, our destinations intersected, causing stress and congestion.  I am not very patient or understanding when it comes to things like not knowing where you are going.  Even in a situation where I am a tourist, I try to behave and look like a local as much as I can because what’s worse than looking like a tourist right?

We were all little ants marching, as Dave Matthews sang so many years ago. I reminded myself, as I often must, to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.  My impatience and tendency to get irritated by stupid little things fights the “enjoy the journey” voice in my head.  Which voice do I listen to?

Because that is ultimately the question for each and every one of us.   We know intellectually that the journey matters but in the real-time, day-to-day, hustle and bustle world we live in, the journey often gets obscured, overlooked, and even abandoned.  “I will pencil in enjoy the journey on the fancy calendar here for hmmmmm....looks like I have an open spot on June 14th of 2020.” 

Are you enjoying the journey?

We are so focused on the end point that we fail to stop and consider if the end point is where we really want to go in the first place.  This plays out in our conversations, choices, relationships, and decision making strategies.  I am not different from you or anyone else.  I lay in bed in night and play the “what if” game all the time.  There are 1,000 plus strategies available to me and directions from which to choose.  But what direction do I go in?  How do I choose a path that allows me to enjoy the journey?  That is the direction I am interested in.

A QUICK assessment of your journey.  Ask THREE Questions:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you right here and right now?  

2. Do you spend the majority of your time living for some time in the future or living in the present moment? 

3. Can you tell me, without thinking too deeply WHO YOU ARE in just three words?

Your answer to these questions is a barometer, I believe, of whether you are living in the present moment and have a handle on who you are in the universe.  

Seize the moment and join me for the "What's YOUR Plan BE?" workshop.  Learn more by going to "Register for Event" tab!