The ice skating rink is leaving the Carolinas. Hooray!
My gym finally opened yesterday. And I’ve hung out with my dear friend the treadmill twice since then 🙂 I am not brave enough to run outside yet. There are plenty of shady spots along my running route which means icy patches.
I hope this is our last bout of winter weather for the season. But something tells me it won’t be…
I am happy with how quickly my least favorite time of the year is moving. We’re nearly halfway through January, which means we’re about 25% done with my “bad months”.
A bunch of times this week, I caught myself saying “I wish I could fast forward to March”. In March, my husband and I take a cruise, we’ll have started infertility treatments (instead of just waiting to start), I’m running a half marathon with lots of blog friends, and it’s my birthday. Everything will be so much better in March.
Or will it?
I have this horrible habit of wishing time away. Sure, right now March looks like a bed of roses. But as time draws nearer, I’ll see the thorns. I’ll long for summer so I can lay on the beach or I’ll just wish to skip ahead to a time when fertility treatments are just a distant memory.
I’ve always done this. Through grad school, all I longed for was a job. When we lived in Atlanta, I believed everything would be rainbows and unicorns when we moved to Charlotte. I even do this during training for a race. On some level I believe everything in the world will make sense once I cross that finish line.
I was ecstatic when I scored a great job. Our new city feels like home. And not much beats the feeling of completing a race. But all of these highs were temporary. I’m always looking forward to the next milestone, and I kind of forget about all the awesomeness currently all around me.
I’m really trying not to do this anymore and cherish the moment. My memories aren’t just filled of vacations, weddings, and races. It’s the time spent in between, waiting for those big events, when the truly cool stuff happens:
- How many times have you had a good conversation with someone at a restaurant while waiting for your meal?
- What did you learn about yourself as an athlete during your training cycle?
Exactly.
I’m glad the universe didn’t listen to me when I wished away January and February. Because that snowstorm on Monday granted someone a lot of joy.
My furball got hurt back in early December and isn’t allowed to run anymore. But the fluffiness of the snow lessened the impact on his leg. It was awesome to see him run and be happy again 🙂
Do you live in the moment? Or are you always looking ahead?
I’m always looking ahead and planning/hoping for better things too. I know this is something I need to change but it is so hard.
Glad your baby pup got to enjoy the snow
I also have a problem of wishing time away. Especially at work! I live for 5 [or more like 7] P.M. and weekends. I am getting better about living in the moment, but it’s still a daily struggle. I also like having something to look forward to (race, vacation, etc.) which doesn’t help the situation.
I’m definitely the same as you! I focus on the future so much, and don’t live in the moment at all! I’m always looking forward to what’s coming up rather than just enjoying what I have, so I’ll try to work on that 🙂
And I’m happy the snow DID have a positive impact for you! The furball looks very happy!!
Jen, my mom always said I needed to learn to live in the moment instead of always planning for the future. I’m still trying to work on that… I relate so much to this post. Living in the RIGHT now is an important part of being happy though and I’m glad you saw that light : ) I’m currently enjoying January but I’m excited to finally meet you in March!
Oh and that training cycle question. I was actually thinking about marathons today and how I wonder if I would have done a second if I wasn’t already signed up for NY. Its amazing how months of training can either be successful or not based on one RACE. Craziness!
I’ve spent the majority of my life looking towards the future but every day now I see as a blessing and I wake up thinking…”what’s the world got in store for me today?” I try to find something that amuses me or makes me smile each day but I’ll admit that sometimes its harder than I’d like it to be. ESPECIALLY during the winter!
I wish someone would write a book with step by step instructions for how to truly appreciate all of lifes moments instead of living for the future. I really struggle with this!
Jen, this post is great. I feel like you took the words right out of my mouth! I sadly do not live in the moment and think things will get better, change, etc. after I do this or do that. After I reach that milestone, the happiness is temporary and I’m left wanting more. Thank you for reminding me to slow down, breathe, and take it all in!
In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten better, but I still slip into this horrible habit – especially when the going gets tough. I have “the grass is greener” mentality. Sometimes I wish for something, to avoid what is currently going on. I’m doing it now with my job. My resignation letter is ready, but I second guess myself. Will it be better if I quit? Should I just push through the year? I’m trying really hard to focus on small moments, so I don’t get overwhelmed.
I actually touched on this a little on my post last night. I definitely think too much into the future and wish for things to hurry up. My big problem right now is that I am really frustrated with undergrad school. I have enough credits to be a senior, but I am still a junior age wise and within my degree. I may be able to graduate next fall, but I am supposed to graduate in spring 2012. I want grad school to get here because I am not going to continue what I am studying (Musical Theatre), but rather switch and pursue a master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Nutrition/Dietetics. I have realized in the past few months that I am much more passionate about nutrition verses music, but it is too late to change my major now. I want to finish what I started, but I wish it would hurry up!
I am afraid to walk the dog, she slips and slides on the ice…and takes me with her. I understand you not wanting to run outside. I know you are thrilled the gym is back open. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness, I could have written this post myself! I can completely relate to you… always looking to/planning for the future. I made a goal for myself this year, and that is to enjoy being “present” more… So far, joining the blog world has really helped with that!
PS. I made it out on a run today… the Dilworth area wasn’t that bad at all! I ran mostly in the road, though.
Yes, definitely. It’s something I’m trying to cut down on, and try to “get present” as they say in yoga. In a funny way, I almost wish time away in the opposite way…not so much looking forward to specific fun events like vacations, but saying to myself that I just have to get through this week, or get past this meeting or event I’m planning at work, or get through some other deadline…as if there will be no more work after that! Ridiculous, there will always be something else to just “get through”. Yay for trying to get present!
I do wish time away and have a bad habit of getting moody once the thing I have been looking forward to passes. I think the most important thing for me is to find balance with my moods/emotions because they really are key to feeling good!
Oh, I love this post. I totally do this.
Right now, I’m trying not to let my life consumed by just being impatient until my husband gets a job to replace his current job that ends in August. Once he does, we are going to hit the ground running with home-buying and TTC…but until then, I’m just kind of spinning my wheels. It’s so hard to just relax and go with it.
Great post – I am always looking ahead in life. It’s something I try not to do and something my Husband always tells me to stop doing, but I can’t help it! When we got married, I looked forward to getting a dog. Now that we have a dog, I’m arleady looking ahead. ugh.. I can never be happy where I’m at!
Always, always, always looking ahead. And then I look back and say “Dang, I wish I had enjoyed that moment more.” Glad I’m not the only one!
I totally agree that the “I’ll be happy when___” mindset is a dangerous one. With running/races, I really appreciate the process and know there are always future races, so I don’t really hold those at milestones for things somehow being different. But sometimes I fall into this in terms of school – wishing it to be over, and now wishing it to start again – jobs, social events, etc. I try to remedy this by waking up and asking myself what will make me happy TODAY. I think this would be a great thing for me to work on for 2011 too, Jen!
I think it’s pretty natural for people to wish away time. we’re always looking forward to something big coming up, which I think is good, to an extent. You’re right though, we should also definitely pay attention to th emoment we’re in and really remember it, because we have limited moments and you never know what’s really going to make a lasting impression!
First of all, I love Nati running in the snow! I’m happy the storm at least brought someone (him!) joy. Isn’t it crazy how the littlest things can make them happy?? I need to be more like that, I think.
Anyway, I also need to stop wishing away time. It’s something I’ve always done. Every once in awhile, I realize this and re-commit to focusing on just enjoying the present (or as they drilled into us during a backpacking trip I did in college “be here now”). When I’m making a conscious effort I do okay, but then things get tough or aren’t as wonderful as I’d hoped they’d be and the cycle starts all over again. It’s one thing to have stuff to look forward to – that’s what makes life exciting. But not such a good thing to wish all that time away. I don’t want to wake up at 40 and realize I wished away all my youth just waiting to get to that “perfect” phase of life!
This is one of my BIGGEST challenges at the moment… Wishing to get engaged, waiting to get married, waiting to have kids, waiting to move. I’m getting a LOT better at making the most of the now, and letting the future take care of itself, but OH BOY it goes against every fibre of my being.
Jen, you allow yourself to be so vulnerable with this blog. I think many of us ‘wish away time’ and are just embarrassed to say so. Thank you for making us conscious of something that is so useless. I so enjoy reading your blog and this is one of your best. Have a blessed day.
I hate to say it but I am always looking forward or else back. Forward to events and dates and races – but I also have found myself looking back, usually to times when I was really carefree.
We have had a lot of readjusting to do recently with paycuts and a hike in taxes and having a mortgage to pay means that we can’t just drop everything and move for new jobs etc.
I wouldn’t change the fact that I have a house for the world but I find myself thinking of weekend concerts I have been at, or holidays I have taken – things that me, and the a whole lot of other people can’t do at the moment.
I am trying to realise that I am a heck of a lot luckier than others, and I am trying to live each day as it happens but it is hard to break a very firm set habit.
thanks for making me think about it!
Aw Nati looks so cute in the snow! We are bad for each other when it comes to this…. I can think of several times we have wished time away together!
Great post and so true! I think its natural, especially as runners, to constantly be looking ahead at the next thing or next goal. I have really tried over the last year to enjoy the journey and cherish right now vs. always looking ahead. I am especially trying right now because I know this training cycle is going to fly by and April will be here before I know it and I want to make sure it doesn’t pass me by too fast.
i have the exact opposite problem. i live ONLY in the moment. which means that i forget anything and anyone that is not right here right now…it’s problematic.
so, while you work on enjoying the now, i will try to look ahead and be more strategic 🙂 thanks for the reminder!
I used to always look ahead but have learned to live more in the moment. But I’m guilty of wishing time would fly.
I love this post. I need to work on savoring the present moment instead of wishing myself into the big ole future! Thanks! And, enjoy hte rest of the long weekend 🙂