Lately, I’ve been sliding into that ‘can’t-wait-ing’ zone. The curse of the ‘I can’t wait till…[insert fun activity here]’ or ‘I can’t wait till…[the weekend]’ or ‘I can’t wait till…[insert trip ahead here]’
And sure, we all do it. To some extent. From time to time.
But lately? I feel as though I’ve been doing that far too much on a regular basis. Losing sight of the everyday. Doing the rush-rush-rush thing all week, jamming as much in during the week, so I can keep as much of the ‘fun’ to the weekend between those ‘pesky’ weeks. When what I should be doing more of is celebrating the ‘little rocks’ of the everyday. The sweattastic run. The sunny morning coffee. Even the laugh over something stupid at work with my boss.
…rather than let my mind drift to what I have planned ahead, for the weekend, next month, next trip, whatever it may be. And slow the eff down.
That’s the key, I think. SLOW it down. Stop jamming so much in, so you end up rushing through even those fun ‘can’t-wait-ing’ things. And, stop being so damn focused on the goal and enjoy the journey to the goal. And for that matter, stop being SO goal-oriented. Yep, I said it. The goal-oriented, over-achiever type said it.
Stop being so goal-oriented. (that’s an entirely new post this week, don’t worry…).
Just stop. Look around. Enjoy the goodness in the life that we lead each and every day, not just those two ever-so-elusive weekend days, losing sight of the five just as glorious days in between.
Sure, it’s a wee bit puppies and rainbows (but hi, I basically define puppies and rainbows, so whatdyaexpect?), but even so, it’s just the truth. There is goodness in each day. There are ‘little rocks’ that can make even the most boring (or bad) day that much less boring (or bad).
We just have to be present enough to see it.
So, this is me, trying my damnest to shed the curse of can’t-wait-ing.
My plan? To say, tweet, Facebook or THINK something good about each and every day. Rather than fast forward to the ‘good parts’ in the week/month/year. Because otherwise, I’m in danger of missing those little sparks that sometimes mean so much more than we ever realized.
(Like, as I sat down to write this post, after dinner on Sunday with M as he set off to keep hammering away at his paper, and he reached over, looked into my eyes and said ‘thank you for making me dinner and for being in my life each and every day.’ And gave me a kiss. It was just what I needed to feel the warmth in my heart and push away the ‘Sunday blues’ because with a man to wake up to and go to sleep next to every night, what’s to can’t-wait about?’)
Determined. To Be... 
This is exactly what I’ve been feeling lately too. Not just the “Can’t Waiting” syndrome, but the too fast, too furious, too GO GO GO all the time. I can’t even remember the last weekend I had that didn’t involve jamming about fifty five million “things” into it. Or a work week for that matter, too. It’s like I’m not ever good enough if I’m not constantly doing, moving, achieving. This weekend was the slap upside the head I needed to slow the eff down, like you said.
(And once again, we’re on the same wavelength, shocker!)
Right! We need to slow down, and just enjoy everything. I mean, our lives are happy and great and filled to the brim with goodness. Why can’t wait it away?! Love that we are on the same wavelength…again.
I always do this. I am constantly looking forward to something (big or little) and don’t really stop to live in the moment.
It’s SO hard not to do. But when I catch myself doing it too much, I know something has to change. This was my reminder to myself!
Great reminder. I find myself doing the very same thing. Why can’t I have more fun moments during the week? It’d certainly make the week days better huh? I really like maintaing my to-enjoy list just for the fact of being able to force myself to enjoy something each day. Even if it’s something so simple as saying “sunshine.”
I thought immediately of you and your to-enjoy list! I need to start doing that every single day!
I’m totally guilty of this too! It’s terrible and I find myself slipping into it now because I’m getting starting to get crazy busy with work and I’m just looking forward to getting it done and getting beyond it. But then it just starts over again, right? No win. So I’m going to take this challenge too and think/say/tweet/FB something good about each day.
Exactly. NO win. It becomes a viscous cycle after that. I am so glad you are going to do this too!
Love this post! I’ve tried to slow myself down on this too lately. I can’t wait for…but damn I’m missing so much. I try to just focus on something positive after work…I can’t wait to try the new recipe, go to the gym, watch a show…just the little things.
You do end up missing a lot, that’s the crappy part of this can’t-wait-itis. The little things make a huge difference in the mundane!
OMG, what a man you’ve got!!!
I’m definitely guilty of this way of thinking, too. Something to keep in mind………thanks for the reminder!
I do have quite a man 🙂 Swoon. Hehe. It is so hard not to slide into this and I was sliding into it big time! a reminder is sometimes all we need!
Oh, I love your man, sometimes they really know exactly what to say. I am the person who is always saying “I can’t wait” and totally agree, slow down and live in the moment. Great post today, thanks for the reminder!
Aww, thanks. Yes, I do have quite the man, he is very good at bringing me back to reality sometimes and with the most perfect words 🙂 Glad you can relate to this too!!
Love this! I have to remind myself SO often of this. I always tell my husband we need to stop can’t-waiting and just enjoy TODAY.
It is so true. Enjoy today. Stop looking at next week, month, year. What’s the point in that?
That last line got me. *swoon*
Good stuff. Great advice. Thank you.
swoon* indeed 🙂 M..is a keeper 🙂 Glad you like the advice too…I think we can all use a reminder sometimes.
I love M – Can you find me an M please? 😉
I’m with you – I’m counting days til Friday when I see my two best friends (since we were 14) again since January, I’m counting days til next weekend when I get to see you lovely ladies again, I’m counting days til the Cox race, til a trip I’m taking in August.
Phew, that’s a lot of counting.
I love the idea of tweeting something good about each day – you need a hash tag for it! I’ll join ya!
I would love to find an M for you!! You deserve that!! So much!! We’ll find him. He’s out there 🙂 And I love the hashtag idea. I’ll start it up tomorrow 😉 It’s hard not to count down days when you have so much to look forward to. That’s what I have been doing too! So, rather than try and fast forward, let’s work on enjoying the little things that add up to so much GOOD.
I love this post because we all get into that mentality, and it’s awesome to become aware of it so we can change it! I HIGHLY recommend reading The Happiness Project – it addresses this very thing, and so many other topics that are right up your alley. I’ve actually been meaning to blog more about what I learned from reading it.
Exactly!! And I have read the Happiness Project and was cursing myself for sliding into this can’t-wait zone since I remember really loving that part of the book! Maybe I need to re-read sections! Would love to read your blog posts on what you learned too!
Living in the moment can be tough! But it is so rewarding when we do…thanks for this reminder!
It can be very tough! But can be done, just needs practice 🙂
I’ve been trying to wake up each morning and immediately speak words of gratitude. This is an eye-opener for me. Remembering the little things and time for them. This is great!
Speak words of gratitude – that is awesome. I loved that in your post the other day, about speaking faith, being a goal of yours. A great one!
I love this, and I love the quote you featured. That’s so true! I tend to think about the future, the what ifs, and the hows far too often instead of appreciating everything that’s happening around me right NOW, every day. I try to remind myself of all that I have and have accomplished NOW, instead of all that I want in the future. It makes me feel a lot more at ease with myeslf.
Thank you! It can be disheartening or frustrating to jump ahead to what the future holds and instead, focus on the here and now and what you HAVE accomplished. And that is a LOT of great things!
You know I can relate to this one! My kids are growing so quickly right now that I *really* need to remember to slow day and enjoy the little things.
Oh I bet you can!! They are growing by the day I bet 🙂
We’re a live to work society. It’s worth taking time to stop and smell the roses. Life will throw us enough zingers (health, job, family, etc.) when we’ll have to live one day at a time. xoxo
Wow, so true. Live to work society.