Living For The In-Between Moments

Our lives are mostly spent aiming toward something. We’re working toward more money, a bigger home, a more expensive car, popular brands of clothing, and so on. We’re always living for something better.

There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t care if you want to be a millionaire or work hard to own a mansion. You’re the only one who gets to set your goals.

The problem with us aiming toward these goals, though, is that we think they’re going to bring us happiness and content.

Unless you’re genuinely struggling financially or you don’t have a stable home, these goals you’re aiming for are not going to make you happy.

If you’re looking for happiness, you’ll find it now, exactly where you are. You just need to look again.

Right now, you’re so focused on what you want that you’re only seeing what you don’t have. You’re not seeing everything you already have.

If you look—really look—you’ll see that you’re actually doing pretty great. You’ve got a fantastic family, supportive friends, a warm bed, money in the bank, and food to eat every single day. Your car may not be a car of the year, but it takes you where you need without problems. You might share a room, but at least you’ve got a place you call home.

You’re not lacking anything, you just think you are because you’re so focused on gaining more. You can’t live for your successes. You have to live for the in-between moments.

Live for the breakfast you have with your sister every morning, for hours spent drawing rather than the finished product. For the moments spent writing on the couch. Live for the sunrises and the sunsets, for the flowers that grow in the spring, for the rain that drips from your roof.

Live for your first ugly car and your first crappy apartment. For your first kiss, for the burning in your legs when you run, for the times you mess up, for the times you say things you regret. Live for lazy Sundays, for Mondays spent working hard alone in your room, for the rejections, for dinners with your friends, and game nights with your family.

Live for the process and the journey, not the goddamn destination. Goals are reached every few months or years, but these moments happen every minute of every day. If you’re too busy focusing on the success you want, you’re going to miss these moments.

Every now and then celebrate the in-between moments the way you’d celebrate a significant success or breakthrough. But instead of cracking open a bottle of champagne, reminisce over a cup of coffee or tea.