The Dash Between Point A and Point B.

I love deadlines. And goals. And time lines. And data points. I love having a concrete date to shoot for, something to struggle towards, with a definite finish line complete with confetti and ribbons. When I don't have a goal, I feel like I'm not making progress, and I struggle to complete what I'm working on. 

That might sound good at first. That means that I can set a goal and make sure I stick to it. But imagine living like that. 

I have to have a goal and a timeline for everything and everyone. For the longest time, I had a pretty good goal/timeline for my life. Get married by this age. Graduate in this year. Get a job at this place. I had my goals. And I had something to work towards. 

But that meant that every time something came along that disrupted my goals, I'd get frustrated with myself, with Jesus, with where I was in my progress report. So I'd try to reshuffle my goals to account for the "interruption" and then strive for the new goals. Up until something else would come up. And repeat. 

That constant struggle, me making plans, Jesus not following my plans, me getting frustrated and trying to remake my plans all stem from a Destination Mindset. I live for the destination. I don't care how I get to my goal as long as it's the fastest, easiest and most efficient route. I live with the destination in mind. 

And I completely forget what beautiful scenery is around me on the way to my destination.

Jesus, unlike me, lives with a Journey Mindset. Sure, he knows where I'll end up and how I'll get there. But he isn't focused on the end point. He's focused on the process of getting there. 

I'm focused on getting from point A to point B. Jesus is focused on the dash between the two.

And I'm beginning to realize how much I want to have Jesus' mindset of the journey. 

When you have a journey mindset, you get to slow down and focus on being present. There's no need to rush anywhere, because you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

You can extravagantly invest in the people around you. Because changing them isn't the goal. Simply being with them is the goal. 

Failure isn't this big horrendous, earth shattering thing to worry about. Because I know that the learning process of the failure will be beautiful and so worth it. 

It drops the need to compare myself to others. They are also on their own unique journey that looks completely different than mine. And I get to be a small part of their journey. 

It means that if I have to take more time off from school to do something that wasn't part of my plan, that isn't a bad thing. It means that my journey is going to have a greater focus on experiencing things instead of academic grades. 

It means that when people try to tell me where I should be in my life, I can just smile and shrug it off.  Because I know that my journey is beautiful and that I don't need their approval in the process of the journey.

It means that when things are hard, and I feel miserable, I have the courage to keep going, because I know that this isn't my end point. This is just a little dash on the map, a small part of my adventure.

And it means that Jesus isn't a sectioned time block in the morning for me to stop and pray to. Learning more about Jesus, growing in Him and with Him, is the journey. And I am so thankful that He allows me to embark on that journey every single morning.

So, take it from someone who suffers from Goal Mindset. You can spend your whole life trying to check off boxes and getting frustrated when Jesus takes you down a road that wasn't on your map. Or, you can slow down, hear how many times a day Jesus says, "I love you", and appreciate the beautiful scenery that you're driving through. 

The scenery, and the beautiful Creator who is right there with you through all of it, is worth all of the unchecked boxes you may have at the end of the day. Trust me.

Kimberly