Are We There Yet?

Have you ever taken a road trip with children, and experienced the familiar impatient cries of “Are We There Yet?"  Or if you haven't had such an experience, perhaps you remember actually saying it,

....over, and over, and over.

My two daughters would start their chorus of “Are We There Yet?” within minutes of leaving, even after telling them it would be ‘hours’ before we'd  arrive to grandma’s house or Disney World.

Yet their excited anticipation over ‘where’ we were going, caused them to ask again, many times...even though they knew the answer.

Did they really think this question held some sort of magical power that would transport us into the future....right to our destination? 

Perhaps they expected the Yoda in me to transpose their question with the wise  ‘We Are Yet There’ and I would then become the best mom ever. 

But alas, these questions did nothing magical, the car did not move faster, and I did not sweetly transpose. Instead I giggled, and reminded myself to thank my parents one day for such patience. 

So what does this have to do with wisdom?

Well...many of us ask “ARE WE THERE YET?” more often then we should. I know I still do. 

Now I don’t drive my parents nuts on road trips with that annoying question anymore...as I am older and wiser (well at least the older part). 

I’ve realized it takes ‘time’ to get to that place I so look forward to visiting. As a busy adult, I cherish this driving time to catch up with some enjoyment reading (not just required school reading!), listen to a podcast or enjoy the scenery I'm usually too busy to stop and notice. 

I even enjoy the stops along the way, such as the gas station; where we buy a favorite snack or souvenir. 

In other words, the trip can be just as fun as the destination!

This can also be true also for life's journey. Each of us have unique destinations. And we can get so excited about ‘that’ destination ahead (goals such as graduating, getting rich, finding a job or relationship, retirement…the list goes on and on.) that some aspects of our 'now' are neglected.

Don't forget about the destination all together though! Not traveling towards a goal can be as tragic as trying to get there too fast. 

Cherishing the ‘now’ as one moves towards the ‘then' helps one to arrive already happy and with fewer regrets. Our greatest regrets are often for those things we didn’t do.

There will always be new destinations until we arrive at that final one…so we might as well learn how to travel happy. So take a deep breath, sit back, smile at the other passengers and enjoy the trip!

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.                

                                                ~Ernest Hemingway