Self Care Series: Part 2- How You Can Get There From Here

   In Maine there is an expression that goes,  “You can’t get there from here.”  It is said with pride regarding the way it takes a circuitous route (for lack of roads) to get to one’s desired location.  For example, a town that is 15 miles from my house as the crow flies takes nearly an hour to get to by car.  One just can’t hop on a super highway, but instead is forced to bumble along small two lane roads winding through towns and by rivers in order to get to one’s destination.

  Well, for those of you who are regular readers, you probably noticed that it has taken me (ironically) a long time to write the second entry in the self care series.  No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get here from there.  Life’s demands and activities kept coming between me and my goal of writing this entry.  Sound familiar to anyone?

   Try as I might in the last couple of weeks to find the highway that would be my quick route to getting my goal done; I kept finding myself on curvy, slow speed back roads.  The more I became frustrated with the road I was on; the more distant the destination seemed. 

   Then finally, I understood the value of the idea of “you can’t get there from here”.   The value of having to take an indirect route to one’s goal is that the journey becomes more important than the destination. For me, I woke up to this idea a couple of days ago over the weekend.  I had blocked out some time for writing, but for some reason I was pulled away.  Spontaneously, my family and I decided to explore a nearby farm.  We had been there before, but had never explored the gardens when everything was in bloom.  What resulted was a day of serendipity.

   Inside the gardens were luscious blooms, hidden statues of frogs wearing crowns, an adult sized rocking horse along side a child’s one, and a child’s tea set tucked behind a wall of flowers.  Unexpectedly, we picnicked right there in that magical place with my children and my husband and I in awe alike.

   That is when I realized that if life is going to offer me such divine detours, I better be smart enough to look around and enjoy the winding road! 

   With that said, I offer two lessons I gained since my last entry.

 

1. The journey is more important that the destination.

 

2. Taking things off of our plate frees us to enjoy the meal that is already there.

 

   By piling our plate sky high with things to do, it is incredibly difficult to ever feel the success that comes when we accomplish our goals.  What would it be like if we chose to do less?  Gasp.  What would it be like if chose to say “no” more to the endless things trying to leap onto our plate?  Hmm… 

   Even if does not seem possible to do one thing less right now in our lives, how possible would it be to at least put less thing on our plate right now until we get what is already there done? 

   What I mean is that try to focus only on a few items on the to-do list at once.  Sure. There may be a whole buffet of things you need to do or want to enjoy.  But for now, try taking just a couple items to focus on, accomplish, and relish.  That way we can better savor the success that comes from making accomplishments rather than focusing on all that is still to be done.

 

  By finally allowing myself to clear writing from my plate that day, I was able to truly savor a day with my family.  Then, when the winding road turned again, I found it was easy to put “writing” back on the list.  And the journey made it so much more enjoyable.

 

    What happens if today we decide to enjoy that “we can’t get there from here” and allow the journey to provide what it is that needs to be on our plates at this moment?

 

  

 

Comments

[Evelyn Lim]

I like your expression that the journey is more important than the destination. I often have to kick myself to be reminded of it, since I tend to focus easily on getting results and attaching my emotions to whether or not, I reach my goals. When I am reminded, I find that I have time to notice more around me and to savor life in all its beauty.

Thank you for sharing your lovely article,
Evelyn

[Ken King]

Wonderful post Katie - the journey is much more important because you are there to enjoy it every step of the way. As soon as you get your destination it is time to pick a new one - I love this quote of yours:

"That is when I realized that if life is going to offer me such divine detours, I better be smart enough to look around and enjoy the winding road!"

You got to have your cake and eat it too, so to speak :)