Looking Foward

At the end of each school year, I have a heart-to-heart talk with my 8th grade students. I explain to them, after hearing the phrase "I can't wait until..." come from their mouths millions of time a day, that when your life becomes about the "I can't wait until..." that we only tend to pay attention to destinations and forget the journeys.

At this point in their lives, my students are in a hurry to reach the cool and exciting milestones in life- driving, graduating, college, marriage, etc.

I give the analogy of going on vacation. Very often, when we need or want to go on our upcoming vacation so badly, it is all that we can think of. We day dream about it, we make lists about it, we research about it, and we plan about it. This IS the exciting part.  This is the journey.

When we are on the vacation, we are lost in the enjoyment and the time flies by quickly. When we are on the way home from the vacation, we often look at what we could have done differently.  When we return to our lives after the vacation, we are off looking for the NEXT, "I can't wait until..."

I explain to my students the joy in looking forward to...

When you are looking forward to something, you are taking the time to look forward to it. You are noting the journey, the day dreams, the process. It is not just about the end result or destination, but the entire time from idea to destination to back again.

I live these words and ideas, and if I am honest...they have become so second nature, that I am noting that something is missing.

My plan: I want to become more aware of looking forward. I want to put a name to each part and sit with it for a while. I want to look forward, but to also look here, now, in the present. In fact, I want to live in the present so much that I get lost in it.

I am looking forward to living now!

Be well.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites