Love the moment

When I drive on the bypass to the southside of South Bend, there is a heating and air conditioning company I pass (stay with me! I have a point here!). It has an electronic scrolling sign that says the time and temperature and advertises specials for the business. It used to have cutesy little quotes and phrases on it too, but for about a year now, they've been MIA. 

I am THRILLED to announce that the cutesy sayings are BACK! (Seriously, it's the little things in life, isn't it?)

Last night, I was driving home from Jazzercise, and one popped up. The basic message (because I've forgotten the exact wording now) was, "The path is great and it's okay to look to the future, but loving the moment is greater."

BOOM. The idea instantly resonated in my life. 

How often are we looking ahead? Looking forward to what's coming up? Waiting for what comes next? A lot of the time. Maybe even MOST of the time. 

Yet another thing running has taught me is to live in the moment -- to be enjoying what I have and what I'm doing right now, not waiting for another great thing to come along. When I'm running, it doesn't matter if I have papers to grade or bills to pay or plans that evening. My focus goes to right then, what I'm doing in that moment (it has to, otherwise, I would pass out or get hit by a car). I'm forced to focus on just that moment. 

I think this has also translated into my life. Are there things I'm looking forward to down the line? Yes. Absolutely. Gobs of things! But, can I also just be really happy with what I'm doing today? Yes. Absolutely. Gobs of happiness about today! I'm far less worried now about the future than I was before I started training. (Maybe it has nothing to do with running, but it is a nice coincidence if nothing else.) Being able to have things to look forward to every day is really helping me to live in the moment. 

And I think I really like it this way.