Just about everyone has heard the saying that it’s all about the “journey, not the destination.” In fact, a card I read in the last few days offered this exact advice.
But, as much as it makes sense to savor each step we take on our individual paths in life, how many of us actually do it?
When I’m honest with myself, it’s quite apparent that my focus is usually on looking forward to some special event coming up or looking back on one that’s just happened.
In my relatively routine every day living, I do not always fully appreciate those steps along my journey.
A destination that looks like “beach vacation,” “improved finances,” “fitter and thinner body,” “smoother communication with loved ones,” and so on, is often where a significant portion of my attention is directed.
And even when I am looking around me in the present moment, I find that I value the journey far less than that lofty, desired destination.
So this is the happiness and Law of Attraction secret that can make a huge difference in your life:
Value and appreciate your journey…no matter how ass-backwards and uncomfortable it seems to be at any given moment.
As you already know, this is super easy to do when things are going relatively smooth.
When you can pay your bills on time and still have money for fun, when you and your partner have just made love or shared a laugh, when your kids listen to you, when your job is enjoyable and fulfilling…. at these times savoring the present moment and glorying in the steps of your journey are no problem.
It’s those OTHER times when it seems that you are nowhere near your goals and dreams that the tendency is to blot out the present moment and keep on dreaming.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming and envisioning the future that you desire.
Creating a vision board with all of those things and experiences that you’d like to have is a powerful manifesting tool, for example.
But a vision board will always fall flat and only be pieces of paper on a cork board, if you are unable to appreciate something about where you are.
The same goes when you cling to your dream of the future in order to avoid the overwhelming feelings of lack in the present.
Find something, anything to appreciate about your current self and life. You see, the Law of Attraction cannot answer your call for a better relationship, a new car or improved health if you are focused in on your desired future so that you don’t have to look at your present life.
When you find only disappointment, failure and dis-ease where you are right now, you cannot move closer to where you want to be.
The key here is to discover something, anything that you can appreciate about yourself and the present moment that you find yourself in.
It doesn’t have to a big thing. Just look around you and open up to a sense of gratitude.
It can literally be the crocus bud that’s poking up through the mud in a crack on the sidewalk.
Set a goal for yourself to notice and pause to appreciate at least 5 things each day. Pay attention to how it feels in your body when you’ve done this.
You might be concerned that if you get all appreciative of where you are, you will stop wanting to achieve your goals.
While there is no guarantee that everything that you want and aspire to be today will stay the same, we are inevitably expansion-seeking beings. The appreciation of where you are will not undercut your desires for improvement.
Start valuing your journey.
The more practiced you are at finding things to appreciate about yourself and your life right now, the more you’ll probably find that you can value and even enjoy your journey.
Think back to when you wanted something– a new bike, to date a particular person, an educational degree or job– and then that thing manifested in your life.
When you didn’t have that “destination” but were working towards it, you probably were very focused in on how great it would feel to have it. As it came to be a reality for you, it probably did feel great.
But it wasn’t the destination after all. Soon there was probably something else you wanted to come into your life.
The underlying secret to this secret is that there is no destination that is more valuable, satisfying and enriching as is the journey itself…but this is only if you are appreciating.
The lesson here is for all of us to take the words on the card I read to heart and truly follow them: “The main event is not the destination, it’s my joyous journey.”*
Even when the moments of your journey don’t feel so joyous, they are only moments and will undoubtedly change. These moments can be appreciated and from that place of appreciation, a little(or a lot of) happiness might just creep in.
