Sometimes, when you ask yourself this question, it’s difficult to determine exactly which way to answer it.
PHoto_HunterSWhere do you want to be?
Do you answer based upon a future career you want? Or maybe you answer by explaining a lavish house in the city that you imagine yourself in, or somewhere that is far away and in another distant part of the world. You might think about being with someone else, somewhere else, and maybe figuring out who you really are at the same time. Or you might imagine some vacation in the Bahamas that you’ve never had before.
There’s always, without a doubt, an opportunity to answer it with the idea that where you are, right now, this very instant, is not quite good enough. It’s easy to often have the idea in your head that you’ve got to be somewhere else to be happy. Somewhere, anywhere… but not here. We start to think of life as moments we just have to get through in order to be happy, instead of looking at each of those moments and finding the happiness that stems and blossoms from within each of them.
But, in the end, that is not the truest, purest way to view this magnificent life. Things do not bring happiness. Once you get the job, you may have struggles come up within that job that you hadn’t expected. Once you move somewhere, you may end up contemplating where to move at one point again. Once you marry, once you have kids, that, too, is not an instant gust of happiness. It is not an instant indication of your success in life, of who you are, of your happiness, or of your worth. There may always be another struggle once you reach that point, whether it is expected or unexpected.
It is best to not judge the question based upon things that can be lost – homes, towns, places, people, or things. You must base your answer upon what is here, right in front of you, and try to find comfort, peace, and happiness in that.
For me, I imagine myself free of worries, free of concern, and at peace. And although I could say that if I was somewhere else I may then be able to attain that, I trust that where I am, right now, is where I am meant to be. So it’s not somewhere else I want to go. It’s within me, within my heart, within my mind, within my soul, where I seek to find this peace. I don’t need to go elsewhere, but I must hear the question, search within myself of what I find to be the importance of this beautiful life, and then answer it by opening my eyes and seeing before me my very own life. Filled with struggles and difficulties, yes, but at the same time, something to marvel at with all of me.
So I look up. Out the window, I see the branches sway in the brisk, cold wind, and the leaves as soft as butter swish and sway together like they are dancing for the world. New gusts of air roughly push them and pull them together, but they remain strong and rooted in the ground. It’s who they are. And where I am, I hear in my headphones a gentle acoustic guitar playing, ever so delicately, but strong and fierce at the same time. I feel my breath come in and come out, steadily, wrestling with my confusion and a small sense of uncertainty, but at the same time, the strongest I have ever taken. Because I am here. I am living. I have made it. I have those around me to cherish, and this very Earth to marvel at. I may not know all of those around me, but I know that each and every person has a soul filled with the deepest sort of love, and that surrounds me every minute.
I like adventure, I like the idea of traveling and viewing more of the splendor and scenes that this life has to offer, but if you were to ask me where I wanted to be, I’d say here. Nowhere else but where I am. And when I ask you where you want to be, I hope you’ll consider the idea that what’s in front of you is as terrific as any moment that tomorrow holds. Just close you eyes for a moment, and then open them again. And when you open them again, remember the essence of life that is in you. Remember that you don’t need to be somewhere else to find yourself, to find someone else, or to find what you want in life. Look deep within you, and then answer.
Where do you want to be?
