Anticipation is the richest part of living

​My friend Beth Royal bought a tiny little teardrop camper. She's been fixing it up, preparing it for its maiden camping voyage. She will admit that this purchase and the process of getting it ready for adventure has taken her a bit out of her comfort zone. Yet, like she does with all things in life, she has found beauty in the journey.

Beth wrote yesterday, "in the preparation, in the readying, in the planning, there is an excitement that is a rich part of living... Along the way, on the road to the big, great, epic things - are all the little great moments that line up and make a life good."

I read what she wrote yesterday morning and thought about it all day. I thought about how easy it is to miss the 'rich part of living' when our eyes are focused on the end of the journey.

Beth suggested we miss the rich parts because we don't take the chance to celebrate anticipation. She said, "anticipation sometimes looks like a lot of work. It's disguised as something that could be seen as a bother."

Chances are, if something looks like work, we aren't going to celebrate it.

Running has taught me that. I sign up for races months in advance. They become the epic event I'm pointing to at the end of a journey. The training runs I do on the way to that event - well they can be seen one of two ways.

They can be seen as a bother, a necessary evil I need to put myself through to perform my best at the epic event. Or, they can be seen as beautiful steps to celebrate on the way there.

In running, there are literally hundreds of thousands of steps to celebrate on the way to the big event, or an equal number of opportunities to wish those steps away in favor of just getting to that starting line.

I think of my faith the same way.

I believe in heaven. I believe at the end of this life journey, there is an eternal paradise. But I don't believe for a second that God wants me ignoring the chance to experience and create a paradise in THIS life while I cling to the promise of something epic in some next life.

In fact, it's my belief, that if we don't get good at finding joy in the anticipation in this life, we may not be very good at joy in the next one.

The truth is, ALL of life IS anticipation. If you're breathing right now, you are in a state of preparing for something that is next. As long as you are alive, there is ALWAYS a next.

The question is, are you missing the chance to celebrate that anticipation because it looks too much like work? Or are you celebrating every step, recognizing that these little steps on the way to something big IS where the excitement is?

Anticipation IS the richest part of living.

Today, you are on your way to something. Stop for a moment - forget the something - celebrate the way. That is anticipation.