On the fifth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me: a journey. Let me set the scene a bit. We have lived in proximity to the nation’s capital of the United States for almost 32 years. A favorite excursion for us is heading into town at night to walk around the monuments – the Lincoln Memorial, World War Two Memorial, Washington Monument, and others. At night, there are fewer people and usually no crowds.
Last night, we decided it would be good to go for such a walk around the monuments and so piled into our car to head into Washington. I was driving and, once we were in the city, I made an unfortunate turn that took us into a tunnel leading away from the city rather than to the National Mall. Undaunted, my family all shared their thoughts about where to turn and how to get to our destination.
Each time we discovered that we could not turn left in that place or that previously open roads were now blocked around the Capitol Building, there was a growing discontent among us. With our out-of-town guest sitting in the front seat next to me, I began to point out the various sites – the Asian Art Museum, the African Art Museum, the original Smithsonian Building, The National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Arboretum – you catch the drift.
I found myself appreciating the journey, though I was the cause of our delay in reaching our destination. No one blamed me for our being in one of those “you-can’t-get-there-from-here” situations and made the best of our time journeying.
In my now pensive state, I began to see how quickly we can miss the journey for the destination. I have written about this very topic here in my blog before. Yesterday, the fifth day of Christmas, I was thankful for patient passengers and my own awareness that we could make the best of it by noting where we were, not focusing on where we were not yet.
The fifth day of Christmas was an invitation to enjoy the journey. Where we are is where we are, and wishing we were somewhere else only keeps us from enjoying the now and here.
I wish for you, wherever and whenever you are, patient co-journeyers and the patience to enjoy this moment as the gift it is. Have you ever had a similar experience where the journey itself became a memorable part of your story? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Infinitely Precious 