Finding time for appreciation

It’s easy to keep pushing forward at all costs, eyes on the prize, ever shooting upward.

But sometimes we come up short. Sometimes we don’t know the next step, or feel overwhelmed or spent.

We shouldn’t get to the point of absolute emptiness before taking a moment to appreciate all that’s happened so far.

Lately I’ve been taking time to capture the moments in my life where I can pause and be thankful.

There are many such moments. Some could be easily missed, others are big.

But if I’m not paying attention every single one will slip me by.

Maybe you don’t care. You’ve got bigger things to do, and looking back is for losers; only the future matters.

Well as someone doing this for a long time I’ve got to tell you, the journey continues forever. There’s no point of arrival, no moment of success where you feel you’re done and dusted. It doesn’t stop. This pushing, desire for progress, need for more will go on until your last breath.

So of course I still care, still try, still want to grow in every area of my life, but I’m taking more moments to appreciate what I have seen along the way. I’m seeing the flowers pop up in the spring on my weekly runs and taking that moment to bask in their beauty. I’m celebrating small wins in my life, both personal and professional, and sharing those wins with friends and family.

The journey never stops, but we can stop along the journey and breathe, appreciate, listen.

Then maybe, just maybe, when we are forced to stop against our will, we’ll have something to look back on and recognize the beauty that’s been there all along.