You Can't Fast-Forward Experience

Admittedly I'm an impatient traveler, often in a hurry to make it to my destination. I drive above the speed limit. Take the shortest course to get to where I am going. I plan trips based on what there is to do and the amount of things to see. Let's call it an eagerness to see, hear, and do everything. An eagerness to experience it all.

I meet people daily that see the world through my similar lens, we share the same freeways, have the same need to get to the next destination as quickly as possible. We are driven by our work demands, our societal pressures to keep up, or perhaps a fear of falling back. We look for, even crave the new this or improved that, always looking for whats next. I understand how its learned, we're products of our environments. We're surrounded by it, even become impatient because of it. Not to mention its an easy thing to let happen.

Recently I was reminded of lesson I learned earlier in life, you can't fast-forward experience. Sounds simple, but its more difficult in its application. This doesn't mean we revert back to snail mail instead of email, use the yellow pages to look up something instead of Google, or never send another text message. It means that often times its about the journey not necessarily the destination. It's about making the most out of every situation you are thrust into or better yet firmly stepping into the middle of something on purpose knowing there is something to learn. Instead of placing the impatience into getting somewhere its placing the impatience into learning whats happening along the way. Easier said than done..
  
Last week I had the great pleasure to participate in a conversation that was so refreshing, so invigorating it made my day, more like made my week! A conversation with a business leader who has great accomplishments in his career, experience in leading impressive sales results, and is currently helping to lead a new organization to the next level. He shared with me the love he has for what he does. Explaining how being with his TEAM is what is most enjoyable, where he learns the most. He shared some of the journeys he has recently been on an the ones he looks forward to taking. The way he explained it gave me chill bumps. He was so focused on the journey, the lessons being learned current and in the future. The conversation reminded me that you cant fast-forward experience.

Our lives are full of journeys, collections of decisions made, lessons learned, and destinations traveled. Some journeys small, some big, all that define us. You can argue that its these that make up who we are, what we are, and how we are. Perhaps its these destinations if slowed down to experience the journey could enrich us beyond our wildest dreams. What if the journey was so incredibly AMAZING that the destination doesn't even matter? Take an extra moment out of the day to understand the collection of journeys you have traveled in just one day. What did you learn? How does that change the trajectory of your next one?

Lesson learned. It's time to NOT hurry to the next destination, to build in time to experience your drive and what's on the road. It's time to take the long way to where your going. How about plan a trip based on the fact that it is a beautiful place and nothing more. I dare you to take the leap with me.