A lot of our lives are spent waiting for the next thing, waiting for the weekend, summer break or graduation. We wait for things to end, we wait for things to start. And this makes sense. There are so many moments of our lives spent doing mundane things and everyday acts.
But, if so much of our lives is spent wishing and waiting for the next exciting thing, what are we doing to enrich those moments of waiting?
If you only live for the next best thing or an exciting, upcoming event, then you miss out on the joy to be found in everyday life. To say that every day is a gift sounds cliche, but it is true. Beauty exists in mundane moments. Joy can be found in-between.
If you show up to your job just for the paycheck, you can save money to take a week off for vacation. You can work each day and care nothing at all about the work you are doing or the people you are doing it with. But work occupies more time than vacation each year so why not try to find joy in the job you do every day? It doesn’t have to be your passion or your entire personality, but it also doesn’t have to be void of joy.
It helps to slow down and think about the bigger picture every once in a while. Ask yourself often, what is the significance of this moment? What is the significance of this place and these people? Do not think of things as a means to an end. There is no destination, this is life, and you are living it.
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”
Mary Oliver, “Don’t Hesitate”
