I will be happy when...

I will be happy when I'm a size 4.
I will be happy when I pay off my student loans.
I will be happy when I get married.
I will be happy when I finish college.

There will always be a "when I....".

We can't allow our hopes for the future to rob us of the present opportunity for joy, happiness, and satisfaction.  This kind of thinking results from prioritizing what we don't have over what we do have and/or prioritizing what we want to be over what we are.

There's nothing wrong with wanting progress.  There's nothing wrong with working hard to accomplish goals. But when we delay our happiness, stifling it in the present moment, feeling that we are not entitled to it "until x", then we miss some of life's greatest opportunities.

If you aren't happy now, do you really believe that you "will be happy when..."?  If you aren't happy with what you have now, will some one other factor make all of the difference?

Yes, we all have things to strive for.  Yes, we have opportunities to improve ourselves and to improve our lives.  But we will never arrive at some magical point where things couldn't be "better".  Frankly, the people in my life have it very well.  We have the love of our friends and family.  We have health.  Most of us have a job to go to in the morning or the qualifications to get one if we needed it.  The fact that we have an actual opportunity for a better future is a gift in itself.

There's a peace and a stillness that comes from gratitude.  There's an opportunity to turn down yearnings for more and to fully experience what is in our present.  There's a great sense of fulfillment that we can experience when we step back, gain perspective, and realize the value of all of the blessings in our life.

What do you have to be thankful for today?  Who's love have you taken for granted?  What job have you not made the most of?  What present level of stability have you failed to acknowledge as a blessing?

Can we stop focusing on "when I" and appreciate what we have now?