Dwelling In The Now

I remember waking up one morning recently, and as I rolled out of bed, I was overcome with a wave of contentment.  I'm not sure what exactly caused this sensation to wash over me at that particular moment, but there it was. 

The thought that rang through my head as I stood there next to my dresser was, "You know what?  I'm really happy."  And it's true.  I've got a great life, a wonderful husband, our health and good friends.  It's been a long road to get us to where we are today, and there's quite a stretch of road ahead of us, but overall life is good.  I'm very happy with where we are.

We've had lots of great experiences - things that most people can only dream about.  We've been to amazing places and seen some spectacular sights.  We've met great people along the way.  Where we are today is a direct reflection of where we've been.  And where we've been hasn't always been easy for us. 

We've been uprooted, separated, and shuffled.  We've had to work hard to stay afloat.  There have been times where we didn't know exactly what was happening, but things always seemed to work out for us.  We've been in situations where we've felt at the bottom of a barrel and had to build ourselves back up.  Looking at where we are now, and where we've been, and how little we've gotten by on at times never ceases to amaze me. 

We miss our families and long-distance friends.  How different would things be if we had never uprooted our lives with the decisions we've made?  Where would we be today?  Would our lives be as filled with the comforts that we have now?  Would we be even more comfortable than we are now? What if we had not made these various sacrifices?  It hasn't been easy for us to take the paths that we've taken.  But the roads that we've traveled, the experiences we've had, the things we've seen and the people along the way have all been worth it.

I wish that I could look ahead and see what the future holds.  Oh, but for a magic looking glass that would tell me that things will be OK, or to look out for the bumps ahead!  Alas, no such devise exists, so we forge ahead hoping that our decisions will bring us closer to the life that we have envisioned for ourselves.    

Where will we be five years from now?  Ten years?  We don't know.  It could be that we'll still be in the home we've made for ourselves here, or we could be starting over again somewhere else.  It's difficult not knowing the answer to those questions.  But I think that we've learned to reflect on our past, dwell in the now and keep an eye open for what will come.

After all, we've made it to where we are, which is a pretty nice slice of life.