It is safe to say that our world has been rocked.
Society has come to a hault.
In just a few months, God took away everything we “worship”– everything that we can tend to hold higher than him.
He has been bold in saying to us–“You want to worship money? I will crash the stock market. You want to worship athletes, I will close all stadiums. You want to worship travel? I will ban travel.” I think with all of my being he wanted to distract us from the world we are currently living in. If you believe or don’t believe in HIM, it is without a doubt that this has taught us a lesson & distracted us from what we are.
This whole quarantine has put a lot into perspective for me. It made me look within my walls of my home and truly find my happiness here instead of always the next thing. This is another thing I think God wanted us to see. It just had to be something so bold as a pandemic to see it.
Have you heard of destination addiction?
The idea that happiness is the next place, the next job, or whatever is next. Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it’ll never be where you are. That shakes me to my core- because it is 100% TRUE.
It’s natural for us to always dwell on the next vacation, next holiday, next weekend. When we live in the next, it will not allow us to live in the now. That next vacation, next weekend, next gathering was just CANCELLED. Maybe so that we would simply see that we need to live in the now.
I know I am not the only one that has felt this way and to be honest never really knew I felt this way the majority of the time.
Then add motherhood – a roller coaster. Twins and a toddler kind of roller coaster. It is so messy and exhausting and funny and so sad and infuriating and exhilarating all at once. That is the craziest roller coaster but one that would bring me to my knees if I ever had to get off. It puts us in one phase only to leave us longing for the next phase, the next leap, the next chapter.
Then with a sudden burst of emotion that sends us wishing we could have just a few more moments back in the phases we were ready to leave behind. That’s it folks – its a constant roller coaster of emotions and has us often trying to find happiness in the next place, the next anything- anything but what you are in currently.
If anything- this pandemic has taught me that I don’t want to literally suffer for the pursuit of happiness. If we live like this, it’s like living our lives just to get to the end of it. We are always on the run, on the move, on the go. Our goal doesn’t have to be to get through the day – it can be to enjoy the day. I will tell you – I am preaching to the choir. 99% of the time I want someone to hand me a cookie, a glass of wine, a literal trophy for just “getting through the day.” We always want to get to somewhere else first before we can relax and enjoy the actual moment. Do we ever get there? There is no point to the arrival – we are permanently dissatisfied. We live in this cycle of pursuit of this insane bliss and we have no idea how to find it.
Some things that are in my own behavior that I see are always in the pursuit of happiness or destination addiction.
– Whatever I am doing, I am always thinking of what comes next.
– Always in a hurry even when I don’t need to be.
– I always think I should be further along than where I am now.
What I DO NOT want to do:
The life we dream of is in the future somewhere, and we all hope to catch up with it any day now. I don’t want to rush through as many experiences as quickly as possible. We were meant to HAULT and experience the simple things in life so that we would simply slow down.
If we live in a speeding means we frequently run past golden moments, golden opportunities for grace, for betterment. We seek, but we do not find. It will work against us if we continue the behavior because we are too busy running full throttle to be receptive. This will leave us empty. Tanks will never be full. Satisfaction will never be met.
Let’s live a life of mindfulness during is hard times. Support each other and give grace.
Happiness doesn’t come from a destination – it is a choice we make, every day, no matter where we are.
It comes from recognizing that circumstances don’t bring us happiness, thing’s don’t bring us happiness, achievements don’t bring us happiness.
Happiness comes from within, deep down within us. Live a life and attitude of thanksgiving.
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” – Henry David Thoreau
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