on waiting for something better

There are so many wonderful stories from my family's trip to Baldhead Island last week, but for now, I'm keeping the details close to the vest. Because it was one of those weeks that was so wonderful, I don't think my words can do it justice. It had so many special moments between me and my family, that I kind of want to keep them there for now, just to cherish and not to explain away. 

  

 

  

Also, while we were there, my sister, Ashley, said: sometimes I think we feel that if we don't share something on social media, it didn't really happen. If we go on a date and don't Instagram the meal, it's like the date didn't count. And I don't want to live that way all the time. This trip counts whether you saw our hashtag, whether I blog about it, or whether we all just went dark for a week. 

I do, however, want to share a snippet from our last day. Lily and I were walking back from the pool, talking about life, and she said, in the sweet way only a seven year old can, "Whit, I don't think you're going to get married for a looong time." I asked her why and she said, "because you need to make sure you reallllly like him first. But don't worry," she went on, "sometimes something can seem like it will take a really long time, but it actually goes by fast. Like a month can go really quickly."

 

I thought about her words on Sunday as I re-entered the real world. I think sometimes we tend to rush toward the future, simply because we want to get to the next phase. We want to plan a wedding and pick out a dress and earn that validation that we're worthy of another half. And we want to get the next promotion, buy the house, take the trip, move to a new city, start earning a new degree...

We want to go, go, go.

Something I struggle with is just enjoying right now. I can be so forward thinking that I forget to stop and enjoy the beauty of the present. The fact that so many things I've wanted for a really long time (like having family in Atlanta) are in place right now shouldn't be forgotten. The fact that things feel pretty easy right now shouldn't tell me to create more chaos (which I tend to do), it should tell me to slow down, take a deep breath and live in the peace of it. 

The things we want will fall into place in due time. But for now, the best thing I can remember is to seek contentment not chaos - to enjoy the beauty of the right now. Because, like Lily said, time tends to fly without us even realizing it. And the best thing we can do is bask in the good and be as grateful as we can.