Our lives and all the experiences we get to have while living deserve a true sense of gratitude rather than frequent over-analysis, which I am quite often guilty of… overthinking, simply put. What makes it hard to slow down is the “over-achiever” in me, and yes I’m calling myself out. And you, and you, and you… Have we ask ourselves enough of this: “What am I grateful about myself so far?” As introverts, we tend to think it’s selfish to show gratitude for ourselves as it’s supposed to be towards others. We lack that self-care mentality when it comes to gratitude towards the self, unfortunately. That is just my opinion, as I have been there, done that.

On the other hand, we introverts also tend to project our worries onto the destination rather than enjoying the journey and all of its detours. The experiences during these journeys of a lifetime surpass all that a destination can provide. By experiences, I do mean who we meet, how we play, where we live, why we love, and so on. When immediate gratification of the arrival to that destination is achieved, then what? Aim to excel and graduate high school at the top of the class, then get accepted to a reputable college and finish a semester early, then what? Pursue grad school and be one of the youngest in the class and get out there to the workforce and contribute. Then, what? You can get the pattern by now. The pursuits of destinations can be puzzling! We tend to forget the unknowns are part of life’s beauty too! We may play it safe and not take the windy road, but let’s remember that the straight path could also lead us to the unknowns as well. Suddenly, at a point in our lives, we just look back and say, “Then, finally let’s be one with our journey and embrace all the detours”.

Every milestone of our lives deserves some recognition or celebration. When we take the time to watch our journey unfolds, we can see into our lives much clearer and allow the people who we truly love and care about take parts in living these moments that will ingrain into our memories forever, as we recognize there is so much power in the detours of life, just as much, if not more than the major road to a destination.