Enjoyment

Good afternoon, if you are reading this, congrats, you are over 1/3 of your way through Monday. Unless you're like me and go to sleep at 8:00pm, then you're at least halfway! There's something about Mondays that start out with a ton of motivation and by the time the afternoon creeps around, they can't be over fast enough.

This morning, after a brief Nutrition Consultation with one of our members, I signed up for a 5k to run this weekend. It is really important to me to stay on track with my half marathon training and stay motivated to run throughout these 20 weeks. Signing up for a race seemed like a good way to get in one of my runs while they are still short and mix it up a bit! Hopefully the rain we are supposed to have this week will pass early. The 31st Annual Seaside Shuffle 5k is Sunday at 1pm out at Wrightsville Beach. I'm excited to get out to the beach and hopefully enjoy some great weather before the cold comes in to stay.

I moved to Huntington, West Virginia in 2005 from Everett, Washington, and when people would ask me what I missed most about living on the West Coast, I would always answer "being near the water." Seven years later, I have since moved to Wilmington, and find myself saying over and over again how I don't enjoy the beach as much as I should. Despite the fact that it's right here, 20 minutes away, I'm working or I'm too tired or too busy.

Rather than enjoying something so special, I have taken for granted the fact that I could pack up and head to the beach any day of the week, at almost any time. Isn't it so true that we do this with many things in our life on a day to day basis? People who are always there for us, amenities that we don't notice we have until they are missing or broken, body parts we don't remember to be thankful for and take care of until they begin to start aching or we become ill, etc. Your favorite person in the world could be sitting right next to you, yet your mind still distant, reminiscing on a better time or in some other place.

I still remember my dad's words the day of my last little league softball game and my last collegiate tournament. "Allow things to move in slow motion, enjoy this time, these moments you will never get back." I needed to savor every pitch, every inning and leave it all out on the field. It seems that if we have something within our grasp that we truly love, we can apply that same "leave it all out on the field mentality" every day, never be lazy in the way we approach enjoyment and always be thankful for the pleasure we get from anyone or anything.

According to Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, to enjoy is "to take pleasure in, to have or experience something good or helpful." It seems that when being around things or people that bring you joy, that pleasure and good things would come naturally. So why is it that sometimes we have to make an effort to enjoy? Why is it that when we are experiencing something special, sometimes we still aren't really experiencing it?

Maybe it's a person or relationship we take for granted, harping on the things that our significant others do wrong, rather than all the generous things they do for us on a day to day basis. Or, maybe it's a beautiful beach 15 minutes away that we don't miss until we move away... I guess what we really need to do is make enjoyment a habit. We have to make it a conscious effort, every day to take the time to enjoy the things we have, the opportunities we get and the people we are blessed with. And then, if and when we have truly made the effort to enjoy, if the person or place or thing no longer brings us the pleasure it once did, then let it go for good.

Don't waste another moment of your life on anything that does not bring you joy. 

BUT, hold on for dear life, to those things that do. 

When we stop taking for granted the wonderful people and things in our lives, is when enjoyment becomes an effortless habit.