Joy in Journeys

Confession: Last week, I boarded an airplane for the first time. 

While I am ambitious to travel in my life, it took seventeen years for me to step foot in the airport and experience the joys of flying in an airplane.

I noticed that in an airport, you meet a lot of different types of people. You have the travel snob, who cannot wait to tell you about their latest voyages in Rome or Paris, and all the travels they anticipate next. Next is the businessman, laptop bag in hand and dressed in his Sunday best. The mysterious hopeful, with a story in their eyes and a destination to follow, sits in the back of the plane, silent, listening to music. As a journalist, I was amazed at the different stories that followed the person’s ideal destination. What led them to take this flight? Where are they going? What are they doing there?

While it’s easy to focus on where you’re going, remember the journey to get there first. Had I been focused solely on visiting Orlando, Florida, I would have never met incredible people – from a Coca Cola businessperson to a volunteer who ended up knowing one of my close friends in high school! 

Steve Harvey once said, “A dream without action is just sleep.” It’s easy to come up with elaborate ideas in our head, but the impressive thing is coming up with a plan to live it out. Most of the time, the journey we take in order to achieve our dream is more memorable than the destination itself.

Take time to enjoy the ‘layover’ moments, moments where in the midst of bustling cities, you take time to wait, develop relationships, and renew before your ideal purpose. Every second counts. Don’t waste yours.