Sometimes when reading a good book, I turn to the end of a chapter, or even the entire book, to see how the story ends. I always regret it. By skipping to the end of the story or chapter, I am directly bypassing the best part of the book/chapter: the actual story, the journey, the lessons learned and all the beautiful details. Even when I go back to my original spot, some of the wonders are lost by knowing how things will end. I still enjoy the story, but I always enjoy a story more when I am left to speculate where the story could possibly be heading. The same truth applies to life.
So often in life we wish we could just "skip ahead to the good parts." I cannot even fathom how many times that thought has crossed my mind. Whether with regard to schooling, a career, a sticky situation or one of the many things in our life that causes stress, it seems we are always waiting for something better. Doing so, we end up spending the majority of our lives waiting, waiting and yearning for the next best thing. We get so caught up in the pursuit of our destinations that we forget to appreciate the journey. When we finally reach our destination, we immediately set our eyes on the next destination. Doing so we forget to experience the journey. A life defined by nothing more than the achieved goals of an individual is a life of true poverty.
In high school, I remembered longing for college and adulthood, the freedom to make my own choices and do my own thing. Though I love my life in college and look forward to my future, there are times I miss my earlier days. Even now, I catch myself occasionally thinking "I wish I were graduated already." Having already experienced leaving high school behind, it usually does not take me long to realize that I will miss every moment of college when I do leave. Whether looking to the future or looking to the past, we struggle to live in the only time we have any control over - the present.
As a distance runner, running cross country and track through high school and college, I have run many races. No matter how many races I run, each race is unique. One thing that is common among all my races is that at some point during either the race preparation or the race itself, I begin to anticipate to the finish. Crossing the line knowing I am done. Instead of focusing on giving my all and enjoying the moment, I anxiously await the finish. When I cross that line, however, no matter how tired I am, I always wish I had pushed harder. I wish I had focused more on the journey - the race - than the destination.
Living our lives to the fullest requires moving on from the past, only stopping occasionally to reminisce on what once was, and making the most of our journey towards the finish line. It is certain there will be moments that we wish we could just fast-forward through, but we must stop these thoughts and remind ourselves that time is short. The day will come when we will wish we could go back to the moments we were so anxious to leave behind. Even if such a day is unlikely to come anytime soon, we will certainly regret not making the most of our time. Though there will be times we will feel tempted to "turn to the end of the chapter", we must remember that the true pleasure comes from the uncertain and chaotic journey that is life.
