Missing Today For Tomorrow

Recently, our little family of three pulled out some of the videos from when our son was first born and watched them together.  Caleb was glued to the image of a fragile little baby moving ever-so-slightly on the screen in front of him.  As a one-year-old, he has no idea this baby is now the toddler that he has become.  Even so, Caleb’s dad and mom could hardly believe this little baby had now transitioned into becoming a little boy.  It has been just over a year since Caleb entered our family’s life and we began to wonder like most parents do… Where did the time go?

Moments like this one help me to remember to live in the moment.  You see I have a tendency to be very future-focused.  Sometimes I run the hazard of missing today because I can’t get my mind off of tomorrow.  This can be because I am focused on a busy week ahead.  It could be because I am more focused on the long term planned.  If you are a goal setter as our family is then there is a tension that exists to keep your eyes directed to the future.  This can be healthy, but it can also consume you to the point of missing today.

You have probably heard the cliché before, “The joy is in the journey.”  The point is to enjoy the moments that you use to get where you are going as much as you enjoy arriving at your destination.  This can be hard to practice in a pace of life that often demands the question, “What’s next?”  However, if we fail to savor the here and now, then we are sure to miss the value of the moments that the future promises to us.  C.S. Lewis once said,

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”

As you consider the direction that your life is taking and the future that you are aspire to attain remember to enjoy the moments that God gives you along the way.  We cannot skip steps 2,3,4 in our quest to get to steps 5,6,7 – nor should we want to.  Soak in today. Capture here and now.  Lead a focused life that is going in the direction of your goals, but don’t forget to really live out each day as it comes.