In this life we have many transitions.  We have many steps in our journey.  And all roads lead to where we are right now.  Did you know that?  Your life where you are right now is the sum of all of your past experiences, weaved together to all collide in your current reality.  your current now.  All roads lead to now.  Which works really great because life is all about #WINtheNOW.

What I doo not mean by this is that you should live it up and party and go crazy because all you have is right now.  What I am saying is that our currency is the moment we have right in front of us.  And what do we do with that moment?  Will we be caught up in our phones and the endless scroll of information?  Will we be sort of paying attention to what is going on around us?  Or are we willing to be totally dialed in, focused on who is in front of us or the activity at hand?

Life is certainly more vibrant when we are dialed in.  And we have the chance to bless others and be blessed by others when we give them our attention.  All of our attention. Not 60% when the other 40% is focused on what is next.  100%.  Yes.  I know.  This is challenging, but it is all about mindset.  reminding yourself that even though you may have bigger things just around the corner, you may be talking to someone who is sharing the biggest stuff in their life right now.  So dial in!  Focus.  Really listen.  Let others know you really care about their stuff.

Being in the present helps us process the question of then what?. I had a conversation with a parent who told me their child would graduate high school a semester early and have enough credits so they could graduate college in 2.5 years and then go on to grad school for two years and come out with a Master’s Degree.  At age 23.  I asked, “Then what?”  The parent said then they would work.

I thought in my head.  Ok.  This person is going to almost kill themselves with this pace of school and likely not enjoy it too much.  Then they will enter the working world with an advanced degree and face 40-plus years of work.  And then what?

When we are always focused on the next thing and keep looking out farther and farther we lose the ability to live in the present and #WINtheNOW.  We lose the ability to enjoy simple pleasures because there is always the next task at hand.  The next thing we have to move onto.

Goals are great.  they keep us motivated.  They keep us hungry.  They help us to get after it in life.  But there needs to be more to life than just chasing goals.  The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us- All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

So enjoy your life.  Be present in your own life and the lives of others.  Don’t get run over by the #falsesenseofurgency.  Answer the question of then what? to see if you are really just chasing after the wind.  We get one shot at this life.  How are you using yours?