Finding Joy in the Journey

Some years ago, when our children were little, I planned a big family trip – the first of its kind for our young family. I spent months planning, mapping, discussing with my husband how it could work. I worked out all the details and was so excited! Yes, it would be a challenge, but I was up for it, because I had plans to make family connections and memories!

At that time, the oldest of our 6 children was around 11 years of age. The youngest, not quite 2. The plan was to haul our camper from our home in Idaho to Mt. Rushmore to the beautiful parks in Utah, camping along the way and taking day trips to see the sights.

On one of those well thought out days, I got a little over-zealous and planned to visit three National Parks in one day! It looked doable on the map. 🙂

It’s doable if you never get out of the car to actually to see the sights!

This is how that day went:

National Park #1:

Snap a picture of the kids with the impressive arches in the background, but pile back in the Excursion to get to the next park. There’s no time to stop and hike.

National Park #2:

Run to the look-out point to take a quick picture before the sun is completely set. Dad’s not in the picture because he’s parking the car and the sun has set by the time he gets there.

National Park #3:

Driving over an incredibly high bridge with amazing sights, or so I read. It’s middle of the night, too dark to see anything and besides, the kids are all asleep anyway.

Over five hundred miles later, we pull into our campsite, hungry, tired and cranky and wonder, “What was the point?!”

The next day we stayed put at the campground. We took walks. We played in the playground. We took naps. We played games. We ate meals. We had fun!

Can you guess which day was enjoyed and remembered the most and with more happiness, by all? Yup, the day we weren’t pushing to get somewhere.

Do you sometimes feel you are rushing through life trying to reach your goals only to rush on to the next one as soon as that goal is met? Do you have regrets about experiences you’ve passed up, thinking you’ll get back to them later when you have more time or more money only to discover the time has passed?

We most often start out with the right intentions, but it’s so easy to get caught up in the plan and lose sight of the purpose.

Take a moment to check in with yourself and see if you’re truly enjoying the journey and having the experiences you want or if you’re rushing to reach your mileposts only to rush on to the next.

Finding joy in the journey is truly wise advice!

With love,