“The journey is what brings us happiness not the
destination.” - Dan Millman.
This simple concept is something that most people forget. The fact that in the
end, our experiences and the things we go through make us who we are. They shape
our attitude and our emotions. If you focus too much on your goals, you are not
living in the present, which is the most important thing you can do. Life goes
by fast, and if you do not enjoy the present moment, you might just miss it. We
are blinded by our goals and dreams, and forget the process that we go through
to make them happen. Often times, people try to find paths or ways to get to
their goals. For example, happiness, an abstract concept that almost every
human in this world struggles with. They try to find a “path to happiness,” but
the truth is that, happiness is the path. The way in which we live everyday is
what makes us happy. What we obtain should not be the main source of our happiness,
because we will eventually end up losing it. Life changes constantly and one
cannot stop it. One can only flow with it, and accept that nothing ever stays
the same.
When
I started doing swimming I would always think of what place I wanted to get. “Third
place? Maybe second if I get lucky”. I would worry about how smooth I wanted my
stroke to look, and the crowd… “What would they think? Would they like my race?” Right before my
races my mind would fill with all kinds of thoughts. Leaving no space for what
was important. The present. That one moment in time, in which I had the
opportunity to do what I enjoyed. Since then, I have learned that when I am swimming,
I do not have to worry about anything or anyone. My mind stays where it
belongs, the moment I am living. I do not worry about what the people think of
me, or even about the flip-turn I will have to do in less than 10 seconds. My
mind transforms into an empty box, with only one thing in it, that one precious
moment in time. That moment when I do not worry about anything but what I am
doing. Now every time before I race, I take a few minutes to empty up my mind
of all of the “trash” that fills it, anything that is not that one moment. Math
homework? How about lit? Maybe junior Prom? No. All of it out, it does not belong
to that moment. I cannot do anything about it then, so why worry? Hard to accomplish.
Yes it is. I am not able to completely empty my mind all of the time, but it is
something that I remind myself of every single day. It is the philosophy that I
try to live my life by. No higher powers or god-like entities, no “pre-written” destinies.
Only me and the decisions I make, the people I interact with, the moments I
enjoy, the happiness I feel, and the life I live.
