No Earthly Good

Sleep is an interesting concept. It's one of those things that we all love, but can't really enjoy. Think about it. While you're sleeping, you don't even really know it, so you can't truly enjoy it. For me, the best part is those last few seconds before I drift off. Complete relaxation. I've even taken this concept so far as to set alarms in the middle of the night, hours before I have to get up, just so I can wake up and experience that glorious feeling of drifting off once again.

Then comes the day. The long, tiring, stressful day. Most days at about 2 o'clock we start thinking about sleep again; thinking about that night when we'll get to rest once again. Sometimes those thoughts creep in before noon. Sometimes it's mere minutes after we get out of bed. But it's bound to happen. We long for that feeling, the one that we can't really enjoy.

Thinking about this, I realized that the best part about sleep is the anticipation, not the act itself. And I fear that this line of thinking has crept into the way I live my life. Sometimes I get so focused on the future, planning it, thinking about it, and even trying to enjoy it years before I actually get there, that I don't enjoy what's happening right now. I forget about today because I'm so wrapped up in tomorrow.

Someone close to me brought this reality to my attention a few months ago, "We can worry about the future later," she said. "I try not to get too wrapped up in what might happen and try to enjoy what is happening. Live in the moment."

I really need to live in the moment more. Because I realize now that I may have missed out on some great experiences because I was thinking about what they could lead up to. I didn't appreciate what was going on; I took opportunities and even people for granted.

Hopefully now I can change that. Hopefully now I can enjoy today and not think so much about tomorrow. Hopefully now I can enjoy some great things in my life that I wasn't fully appreciating before.

Hopefully I get that chance.