The path from here to there.

There is a path between the present and where you envision yourself in the future.  It might look like this:

A-B

A is the present, our current condition, what is real.  B is the result, the future or ideal.  Most people focus on the B.  Your B might be happiness or success, fame or fortune, family or fitness, or maybe even (B)uddha. 

It's easy to focus on the B.  To strive for attainment, for the result.  Everything around us is telling us to set our goals and to hit our mark.

But take a close look at the path (it's the hyphen!).  A life is in there.

There are good days and bad days, victories and defeats, friends and obstacles.  There are opportunities to be focused, and opportunities to deal with resistance.  There are moments to be generous, and moments to be overwhelmed by negative emotions. 

The path is where all of the transformation occurs.  The path is the conversion process that draws out all of the qualities and characteristics we are hoping to be present at the time of the result. 

The path is the gift that we get to share through our life and energy. 

We tend to experience a lot of dissatisfaction and discontent on the path, but that dissatisfaction and discontentment are due to our own perception of the path and our fixation on our desired result.

What if we shifted our posture, and focused on the practice of the path instead of the attainment of some future state?  That hyphen holds a lot of potential, we should make the most of it and also take joy in the opportunity that is present for us.  We have a lot to share.