The in Between

Life is about the journey not the destination. I repeat, life is about the journey NOT the destination. In life we make plans, goals to try and bring ourselves happiness and purpose. Our goals could include; traveling, post secondary education, buying a home, marriage, children and so on. And we work hard to try and check those goals off our lists (which are usually pretty lengthy). We put all of our efforts into them to achieve what we are looking for, joy. And can you guess what happens? We try so damn hard to find joy that more often then not we lose it. We search so hard that we become lost. And the truth is, that life isn’t meant to be planned. It’s not a linear path and it certainly doesn’t listen to us. Life simply just happens. Whether want it to or not and whether we are ready or not. And it is happening. Happening all around us and constantly buzzing with moments waiting to be made. But sadly we miss those moments, we don’t even acknowledge them or even know they exist because we are fixated on our plan - on how our life is supposed to be and what it’s supposed to look like. Then we blink and that moment, that buzz of opportunity is left unexperienced. I’m not saying don’t have goals and I’m not saying don’t try and accomplish those goals but what I am saying is to look up. To smell the damn roses. Did those roses just smell nice and you moved on? Did you get stung by a bee while smelling them and turn around? Did you see a butterfly and follow it through the field? Or did those roses lead you somewhere? Somewhere you didn’t even know you needed or wanted to be. We imagine our perfect package of a life. We pick out the wrapping paper, which bow to put on top, how big or small it is, and what goes inside. And then we just stare at it, waiting to rip it open, longing for the purpose it will bring and the things that we expect from it. Little do we know if we just took our eyes off that package for just a second and look around we would see billions of different ones. Packages in colors you didn’t even consider that you love. Decorations you never knew existed. Filled with desires you never knew you wanted. And how could you know any better? How would you know you wanted the forest green wrapping paper with a big yellow bow? How would you know you didn’t even want the package? And how would you know you loved roses if you never smelled them? We simply wouldn’t. Because learning those things requires experience. It requires living and learning. It requires saying yes or no. It simply requires looking up. Open your senses, use them and listen to that buzz of opportunity because it’s loud and it’s waiting. Life is waiting for you to zig zag, to loop back around, to swing, to fly, to dance, to sing, and to just be. Because life is the in betweens, it’s the unknowns, it’s the roses and it is all around you. There are endless flowers to smell and they are waiting for you to claim the moments and memories that they will bring. To fulfill that joy and purpose that you so desperately seek. Because life doesn’t always come in the package we expect but it comes and if we are fixated on what we expect we miss out on what we need.