relish in the memories

Today I am going to relish in some memories.

Given that its throwback Thursday and my Instagram feed is filled with peoples memories, it's no wonder that I'm thinking about some of mine.

Just a few weeks ago, my family and I went on a fantastic mini-vacation.  It was one that I'd looked forward to for quite some time, and it was just as magical as I had hoped.  We went to Moab and spent the better part of the week exploring Arches and  Canyonlands National Parks.  We found little places to eat that we loved, and vowed we would go back to.  I watched my daughter be brave and my son be free to explore.  Even the car ride was something I look back on and smile.  Long hours in the car with your family should be part of every childhood.  We made memories.  So many memories.   

On the way home my husband and I talked about all the other places we want to explore,  the road trips we want to take the kids on, and the memories we want to make.   I think we started planning the next three (at least) vacations.  When I got home, I started Pinterest boards for these future trips and googling important stops to make along the way.  I am really looking forward to the next one.

But, as I sit and scroll through the feed of memories, I am beginning to think that I'm spending far too much time planning the making of memories, rather than enjoying the memories I have already made.  

How often do I sit and think about the places we have already been, and the things we've already seen.    I still have albums full of vacation pictures that have never been printed.  Mementos from trips that have never been framed.  

I spend way too much time thinking about the places I long to go rather than being amazed at the places I have already been.  

In a world that is full of 'keeping up with the Jonses', it's hard not to look at the amazing things others have experienced and not feel some level of envy.  I want to see those things too.  I want to make those memories too.  But the reality is, that with a world as big as the one we live in, we will never see it all.  We will never go to all the places on our lists, or see all the things that we wish we could...and thats okay.  That's part of what makes the human experiance so great, there will always be the unknown.  

So instead of spending all my free time thinking, and planning, where to go next, I vow to spend some more of that time relishing in the places I have already been, the experiences I have already had, and the memories I have already made.  

Because they were pretty rad.