anticipation

 

 

Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again. Samuel Johnson

it seems like we are always looking forward to the next thing....how many times have you said "i can't wait until...." - and then you get there, and it's not what you thought it would be.....and the more you build something up in your mind, the less impressive it seems once it actually arrives, right?

today is the first day of lacrosse - my kids have been talking about it NONSTOP for weeks....months, really.  they were counting down the days - getting their gear all ready - working out, playing pickup .... all the normal things to pass the time just so it would be one day CLOSER to TODAY!!  and FINALLY, lacrosse is officially here - and when the kids got home and i asked how it was.....they said "it was alright.....but i really can't wait until MONDAY".....because cuts will be made by then....i could have STRANGLED them....really?

but the more i thought about it, the more i realized that their reaction is completely TYPICAL....we look forward to vacation because its going to be the best ever -and then when we finally get to vacation, we stress over how soon its going to end (or maybe that's just me)....

we look forward to birthdays (at least when we are young) and are invariably disappointed that they aren't GREATER somehow - or more exciting.....valentines day - blah.....now st pattys day usually lives up to the hype, but only if you are a beer drinker :) - christmas is the biggest let down of all, usually - because we spend so much time anticipating it...it can't POSSIBLY be as good as we build it up to be in our minds because we have soooo much to look forward to....its a crazy situation ....months of work for 10 minutes of destruction.....awesome!!

ok thats pretty cynical - i actually love christmas - and birthdays.....and vacation - but i am super guilty of the anticipation thing.....i can't wait for softball season to start, and as soon as it does i stress over how much time it takes.....rather than just ENJOY IT...just like the boys today - we all have such a hard time ACCEPTING our moments as they come .... and taking them for what they are worth.....it was a BEAUTIFUL day for spring sports to start, but all the kids can think of is next week, first scrimmage, first game.....that's how seasons and life pass us by....

Nothing is worth more than this day.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

think about it...NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY......how many times are we going to need to be reminded that TODAY is all the guarantee we have....watching the news should hammer that home regularly.....can you imagine the sheer terror of being in the school where the kids were shot....or bring the parents sitting at home waiting for word......should it really take that kind of wake up call before we realize that each day we have is a gift?  and each day we spend waiting for something else to happen, or something better to come along, is one day less we get to ENJOY.....

a cool chinese proverb says "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  the second best time is now"  how freakin true is THAT??  it's funny how some of the simplest lessons take the longest to learn...in trying to teach jake how to manage his time, i'm always saying "if you can do it right when someone asks you to or when you think of it, then do it.....if you can't do it right then, then you have to put it on your list - but take care of the immediate things IMMEDIATELY"....does that make sense ??  its helped me in my vast juggling to just make the phone call when i think about it, rather than writing down and waiting for later....why i can't apply this same logic to LIFE is beyond me....but i think that is ultimately one of my greatest discoveries so far.....for as much as i want to STOP and smell the roses on this ride, sometimes that's just not possible.....so maybe it's okay if i just smell the roses while i'm running by.....

im not saying anticipation is a bad thing by any stretch.....i'm just saying that you can't lose sight of the NOW while you're looking ahead to the TOMORROW.....you never know  how much of tomorrow you are going to get...but you get ALL of the NOW!!  so make NOW count!!