Have you ever measured how long something will take against how much enjoyment you’ll derive from it? It’s only natural to do so, right? Some rewards simply aren’t worth the level of output required to get them.
This is how my husband and I used to feel about traveling. If you’re going to go through the hassle of traveling somewhere far, you better be there long enough to enjoy it!
And then one day my husband had to travel to Idaho for business. He was told there was an incredible city and resort in Idaho called Coeur d’Alene and that he should take his wife for a romantic getaway. Between our work and kid schedules (and the flights available), we’d be traveling 8 hours plus to be there for less than 48 hours and have to return on a red eye (another 8 hours). It barely seemed worth the effort to fly to the other side of the country for a day and a half of leisure.
But something told us to throw caution to the wind and book the trip.
Fast forward to this weekend. Orlando and I had schlepped all five fingers up to Sarasota to hang out with family (for less than 48 hours). As we walked on the sand, Orlando looked out into the ocean and said, “that trip to Coeur d’Alene changed my life.”
“How so?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“It changed my relationship with time, traveling, and living. We would have never come to Sarasota on a whim for a weekend before. I’d focus too much on the hassle and inconveniences of traveling that I’d convince myself the trip wasn’t worth it. But we had such a blast in Idaho — and even though we were there for such a short time, we did so many things! It felt like we were there for much longer. I just don’t have those hangups anymore. As long as we get to enjoy our time together and do something fun, who cares how long we’re there or how long it took us to get there?”
Isn’t that the truth about everything?
We idealize the length of things. We celebrate a couple who has reached 50 years of marriage or an elderly person who made it to 100. The longer we can hang on to something, the prouder we are of it.
But does the length of the experience matter as much as the actual experience? What if the couple spent all 50 years hating each other — is it still cause for celebration?
How about the woman who reached 100 but did none of the things she dreamed of or longed for? Is the number alone the accomplishment?
What I know now is that it doesn’t matter how long you take to get to where you’re going, or how long you are there. What matters is what you do with the time you’ve been given. Memorable experiences are always worth it, even if brief.
Today I want to share this moment of clarity my husband and I had because of our far away and very brief romantic getaway:
Never forego living a full day just because you think one day is not enough time. Life will always be too short, so any day is a great day to make some memories.
What things would you be willing to do now that you have this perspective?
