“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”

― Henry David Thoreau

This morning after I dropped my children off at school, I came home to begin my workday. As soon as I walked into the house I thought to myself, “I know what I want out of this life. I know where I want to be, and I know what I want to do. When on Earth am I going to get there?” I pondered at the many wonderful blessing that I have around me, yet I still found myself asking the question of when I would “arrive” at where I want to be. I reflected on the people I know who are a lot closer to where I want to be and I wondered what goes through their minds every day. I finally came to the conclusion that they probably think in a very similar way to the way I do. Each day they are also striving for something greater. 

You see, you will never, ever “arrive” at your destination. You might know what you want in this life, but there will never be a day where you have “arrived”, for if you “arrive”, then you will cease to grow. You will cease to improve. When we set goals for ourselves, we set measurements by which we can gauge our “success”. Once we have achieved these goals however, it opens the gate for us to accomplish so much more! We will have grown immensely through our accomplishments, and will thereby create the opportunity for even greater growth! Goals are amazing! It’s how wonderful things are accomplished! Everyone should have high goals and aspirations that they work toward and put solid effort into. We just can’t allow the dream of the future and of our unseen achievements cloud our vision of what is right in front of us… right this minute.

So when will I get there? I realized that I will never “get there” because I already am there! There isn’t a point in life where time stands still and we have “arrived”. What we have… ALL that we have, is what sits right in front of our eyes! Of course we have dreams and aspirations, but if we don’t recognize the fact that we might not be alive five minutes from now, much less five years from now, then we will miss out on what is right before us! In my favorite musical, The Music Man, Professor Harold Hill states the following:

”You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” 

He makes the point that if we are so focused on our goals and dreams of a future reality that we don’t see what we have for what it is right now, then we will just end up with a life filled with emptiness and regret. Look around you right now!!! You have so much to be thankful for! You have so many blessings right at the end of your nose! Cherish every minute that you have, for you never know when the next minute will be your last! Look around you and be grateful for what you have. I truly believe that until you learn true gratitude for what you have already, you will not be given more. Gratitude is the first step. Love what have, love who you are, and love the world around you! Learn to do this, and watch the world around you change right before your eyes…