Slow Down, You're Movin' Too Fast.

Have you ever noticed how often we wish our lives away?  Always counting down the days, months or years to the things we look forward to.  Our countdowns have gradually progressed from counting the months until Christmas, the days until we got our drivers license or counting down the minutes until the clock reads midnight on our 21st birthdays.  These days I feel like I have countdown for anything and everything…  Every Monday, I count down the days until the weekend and every day at work I count down the hours until 5:00.

On one hand, these countdowns keep us going and get us through difficult times in our lives.  Counting down the weeks until we can see a loved one or counting down the days until we are done with a stressful project at work.  They motivate us to keep going, to keep pushing through until we’ve reached our goal.

They keep us hopeful.

On the other hand, we are so focused on the future and the things we have to look forward to, that we miss the little things going on around us…

and one day, these will be the moments we wished we could remember.

All these thoughts came to me as I was talking to Ryan last night.  I told him I  wished all of this moving crap was taken care of, I wish the boxes were packed and unpacked, we were moved in,  I had a job, and most importantly… I wish we were living in the same city.

As I laid in bed last night, I realized how ridiculous I had sounded.  I realized how hard it will be for me to leave my first real home away from home.  I realized how many things I have left to do before leaving Chicago and I realized how hard it will be to say goodbye to some of my very best friends.

Why am I wishing my life away?  I need to stop and smell the roses (sorry for the cliché).

So, that’s my plan.  I am going to slow down and soak everything in.  I will take tons of pictures and spend my remaining time in Chicago with my friends making lasting memories.

Sure, I’ll still have my countdowns… things to keep me excited about, but i’m not going to fast forward through my life.