Live for Now, Not Just for Later

After reluctantly returning from a long vacation with my in-laws in Seattle, Washington, I have been wrestling with this concept of "living for now" and not getting so caught up in the future that I forget to enjoy the present.
I spent my college years anxiously awaiting the arrival of the young man who would become my future husband, and sometimes I got so preoccupied with the fulfillment of this dream, that it was difficult to enjoy my life as it was.    I was in a rewarding but challenging field of study, and I had great friends, so my life was pretty full. However, I would visualize my life being so much better, fuller, rich with love, and more satisfying because of finding my True Love.  When I compared these grandiose, adventurous images with the way my life was currently, it felt like my life wouldn't truly "begin" until I met my perfect mate.  So there was this disconnect and I had to wrestle with the idea of being happy with my current life and living it to the fullest, while desperately desiring more to happen in the near future.  It's healthy and productive to have dreams, after all, but not at the expense of your happiness or satisfaction with the way your life is at the moment. 

I'm experiencing this paradigm again, but currently I'm waiting for a different dream to be realized.  My True Love & I desperately want to move to Seattle ASAP. All we're waiting for is for him to get a decent job that will sustain us there, then we're gone. You know how sometimes someone will say, "I was BORN to do this?" Well, that's how I feel about the Seattle area. I truly feel that I was born to live there. I so thoroughly enjoy the people, the culture, the food, the sights, the quirks, and not the mention the majestic natural environment that's all around, namely 2 mountain ranges, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Ocean! I even love the weather!

So how do I be happy here in hot, humid Ohio while so desperately longing for mild, majestic Washington? This is something I think about everyday, and I must remind myself that I'm here, in Ohio, for a reason. I may not know what that reason is, but I need to learn to accept that fact and deal with it. My hubby will get a job which will allow us to move out to Seattle when the time is right. So for now, I will take deep breaths, relax, and try to remember that life in the muggy Midwest is really not that bad.