Going through life, with all its challenges, struggles, and stressors can make it easy to put the good things on the back burner. It’s so easy to forget that the journey is a gift too. Too often I, like so many others, find myself focusing only on the next step ahead. “I can relax when A, B, C, and D are finished,” I tell myself, conveniently forgetting that as soon as those are completed, F, G, H, and I pop up straight after.

In the modern digital age, reminders of our never-ending to-do lists are inescapable through the constant ping of the phones in our hands. 

In this perpetual cycle, where do we find time to slow down and savor the accomplishments we’ve made so far?

Stress without breaks for relief can cause so many problems. The mental toll it takes is only the beginning–perhaps it ups your cravings and causes you to reach for comforting but unhealthy foods, making you feel worse afterwards. Perhaps it makes you feel so burned out that you skip exercising, or you withdraw from friends and family to recharge. Even scarier, it can manifest itself physically too, showing up as actual health problems that say your body has had enough.

This is why it’s so important to stop, take a deep breath, and look around. So much has gone right to get you to where you are now. It can be such a healing exercise to take time to evaluate the blessings and gifts that have entered your life as you’ve taken your journey.

To start at the basics…

Birth to Age 10:

Initially, we come into the world and receive our first gifts: the experience of learning and understanding the world around us. We are able to depend on our mother, father, families or community as we toddle along, figuring out the rules of the game we will play for the rest of our lives. Recognizing the gift of the journey is easier here; at this point, the journey is all we know.

We are able to take cues from these people, as well as our peer groups and society, all there to guide us along. This support is a treasure that will help shape the people we become.

In Your Teens:

Next, we go into our teen years, where we start to find our footing and receive the gift of independence, a stark contrast to the dependence experienced up to now. We start to gain a sense of self.

With that comes another gift of confidence, where you feel ready to strike out on your own. The urge rises up to say, “Just give me the keys to the car, I’m ready to go. I understand this now.”

Twenties and Thirties:

This blessing of self-assuredness continues and grows, where your sense of how to play the game becomes more clear and real. Through these ages, we also learn that it’s okay to bring some of that dependence back, and decide how and when to incorporate some of that interdependence back into our lives.

Forties, Fifties, and So On:

At this point, our forties and fifties can bring us back around to understanding more about our boundaries. Belief systems may get a huge overhaul during this period. Also, we sharpen our ability to find our way, tapping into that wisdom that we find around us, whether in people or in our environment. The world benefits greatly from this wisdom the courageous among us impart, who pursue improving upon what was and creating something better and more enjoyable. 

The gift of perspective surfaces, the ability to see the gems as we review our lives and notice the treasures that we’ve accumulated along the way. There’s a lot of unpacking the bags that we’ve brought along, keeping a few of the lessons in a more compact form that can travel along with us. 

The pain and setbacks that we had pulled through in the earlier years become a gift too, strengthening our resolve and ability to handle strife as it passes through our lives. The things we work out now become what we give meaning to in the future. I have experienced deep struggle at several points in my life, and they certainly didn’t seem like a gift at the time. But when the next struggle came along, I was grateful that I had gained the power to withstand it. 

Mid-life may become a crisis point; often the things we fear show up so we can face them and redirect our trajectory. For those willing to do the work of deep inner reflection, healing, and redesigning their life, realizing how much power we actually have in shaping our future experiences can be an amazing thing. 

This is also often a time when our body, mind and spirit are trying to come through loud and clear. Health issues crop up, and we find we need to take better care of ourselves, to notice the benefit of quality food and rest and how they sustain our overall vitality. Our mind and heart alignment will often be revealed in the stability in relationships we have, along with the relationship we have with ourselves. Our dreams and goals can go in multiple directions: they may either fall into place, or we discover we have to readjust habits and beliefs to find more peace, love and harmony. 

Lastly, one of the greatest advantages to this age is the opportunity to slow down, appreciate, and allow life to be a gift. For once, life doesn’t have to be a constant forward motion. Sometimes you’re able to just be. 

Throughout:

It’s an incredible feeling to witness the shifts from what we thought we wanted to things that are more meaningful. There is joy to be gained in the full ride, with all its ups and downs, celebrating not just the highs but the things that helped to create such an incline in the first place. The rise and fall of the roller coaster both bring reasons to be grateful, creating a journey well experienced–even if those experiences were tough. 

It’s important to relish in the victories, savoring the gift of the journey, and sometimes it can be hard to recognize a milestone for what it is when you are concentrating so hard on the end goal. One must take time to celebrate the smaller victories along the way. 

Allow those to fill you with accomplishment, each goal scored or each mile marker passed, not just the winning shot or crossing of the finish line. Behind each victory is the spiritual support gained from the entire journey your soul has taken as it grows and changes. 

So the next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, take a moment to take stock of what you’ve pushed and climbed and fought your way through. You’ve done incredible things to get this far. Allow your soul to fill with pride; you’ve grown leaps and bounds! You’ve done a fantastic job getting this far.

I wish you all the best on your personal journey. Feel free to let me know a bit about your journey in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Want a fun and insightful way to explore this idea? We’ve created a game called Soul Life Treasure Hunt, specifically designed to help you navigate the tough challenges in life. See what it’s all about here!