The Journey is the Destination

Not entirely sure who actually said, "The journey is the destination" but I've said it before so will use it for now! Sometimes we get so busy in this life and focused on where we are headed to that we miss all that is going on in the present. We hear sayings like "stop and smell the roses" yet we seem to think we've got more important things to do -- have to get somewhere, fast! Yet the real purpose of living this life is to experience it.

One of my favourite verses is Psalm 27:13, "Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living." I love it, I claim it, I call God out on it -- I am confident, I believe that I will see/experience the goodness of the Lord while I am still here on this earth. This is not just a promise we can look forward to and hope for in heaven, where "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” Rev. 21:4. This is here and now in THIS journey!

When we push hurriedly through life trying to get everything 'done' we can miss the cues that God hard-wired into us. Physical cues that let us know when we are hungry, tired, sick and/or in pain. Emotional cues that tell us when we are getting violated, falling in love or needing to be courageous. When we ignore our cues we actually end up detaching from that part of our being; we have to in order to shut the cues off! So what happens? We train ourselves to stop listening to ourselves! I'm not talking about the odd time when circumstances require us to push past fatigue to get something finished because of a due date. I'm talking about the chronic choice to disregard our body, soul and spirit's cues to take care of our being. This creates another problem. When the cues are missed they do not simply go away but they get turned into unmet needs and longings that will often get met in destructive and ineffective ways.

So what's the answer? Tune back into yourself. Look for and identify your cues -- for hunger, fullness, sleep, connection, rest, medication, treatment, etc. Pay attention to them, even when it's not convenient! Stay attached with yourself and be present in your daily life. There are two different kinds of time. Chronos time, which is the Greek word for chronological, sequential time -- it is quantitative. The second type is kairos time, which is qualitative in nature.  It means a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens/'the supreme moment.'  The photo represents kairos time! But that doesn't mean you have to be on a beach somewhere (although it certainly helps! :-). It simply means being present and attached to your life -- living in the very moment in which you are in rather than striving to get somewhere else. Enjoy the journey -- it is the destination.