In Route to a Destination

I’m reminded that we only get one shot at this, and we would do ourselves a favor if we stopped racing towards destinations at the expense of enjoying the journey to get there.

Sometimes in all of my eager anticipation of arriving at whatever map dot Google is directing me to, I get so overly focused on that dot that I fail to take note of all the wide open spaces that lie in-between my starting point and my destination. On a recent venture to my hunting lease in Southern Missouri I was making good time when I crossed the Arkansas River in Little Rock. The picture atop this post captures the scene that my speeding mind slowed down to take note of. Thankfully, as I age, I am attempting to train myself to slow down and enjoy the journey equally as much as I anticipate the destination of isolated trips and even seasons of life. What follows are just a few of the lessons I’ve learned along this journey we call life.

I taught High Shoolers for about 15 years, and hearing their conversations reminded me so much of the outlook I had when I was their age. Dreams of big plans and huge successes often accompanied the words, “I can’t wait till I get out of High School!” Looking back, I recall thinking the same thing. Now, however, I realize that those days of little responsibility and tons of enjoying all that comes with that season of life were indeed some of the best times. Why I so wanted them to hurry up and be gone when they were the here and now, I can’t say. But if I had it to do over and knew then what I know now…

When children came along, life changed completely. No longer was there freedom for me and Jenny to at-will have a date night or a weekend get-away. Those things became complicated to say the least. School days with homework and sports seasons with practices and games became permanent fixtures on the calendar spaces that once had been occupied by fishing trips, hunting excursions, and adventures with the Mrs. At times – especially those where 5 kids had to be in 5 different locations at the same time on the same day – the thought would cross my mind, “I’ll be glad when these days are over.” And now that those 5 are grown and gone, I find myself longing for those days to be back. Did I miss some of the joys of that journey because I was overly interested in a destination years down the road that arrived way more quickly than I ever would have thought? I’m afraid so.

Again, as I get a little more gray on my head and chin, I am becoming more keenly aware of the brevity of this thing we call life and all of its seasons. I’m reminded that we only get one shot at this, and we would do ourselves a favor if we stopped racing towards destinations at the expense of enjoying the journey to get there. So how ’bout we purposely slow down and enjoy the seasons during the times we are allowed to have them? How ’bout we enjoy the kiddos as first priority and quit wishing for the clock to hit fast forward to a new season we aren’t really ready for? I promise you that those seasons will end and new ones will come far more quickly than we think. So let’s slow down and enjoy the here and now. And when we cross paths on one of life’s adventures, we can compare notes on all the reasons we appreciate the wise advice of someone that’s been there – done that. I’ll see you later on – in the Great Outdoors!