“What are we, if not what we see in another.”

~ Amanda Gorman

It seems we are constantly rushing toward some goal or dream – an ever-elusive “finish line” of some sort. Under the pretense of pursuing happiness, and the heavy weight of questions like “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”, we imagine a different version of ourselves existing in the distant future somewhere – often richer, calmer, more stable, and wise. As a result, we spend very little time appreciating where we are today.

By being so focused on how things “could be,” we are under-appreciating how great things already are, right now! Unfortunately, this mindset affects how we approach almost everything else in life. Instead of being grateful for what we already have, we exhaust ourselves with cravings and longings for what we haven’t yet achieved and, rather
than seeing the beauty and the blessing of the friendships and relationships we have in our lives, as well as, how fortunate we are to have them in the first place, we regard them as inferior to the imaginary versions we’ve created of them in our minds.

If we give ourselves very little credit for how far we have already come, we tend to give others little to no credit for their own efforts in life.

When we are impatient with ourselves, how can we possibly be forgiving of others?

And as long as we continue judging ourselves when we look in the mirror, we will continue to do the same to everyone else around us.

Wouldn’t it be great to simply stop and reflect on how wonderful everything is? Pause for a moment and honor the progress you have already made in your life, acknowledge the gifts that you have, and appreciate life itself for a few breaths.

We are continually evolving, growing, learning, and
expanding and, let’s face it, we will never truly be “done”. Do yourself a favor and take a step back – notice how the small details we fret about seem to disappear when we choose to, instead, look at the bigger picture.

#BeyondTheBoylstonLine