Since my obsession began over three years ago with all things Law of Attraction, my life is very different. The way I think is different. The way I feel is different. And the action I take is fundamentally different.
On pretty much any subject, there is my pre-LoA point of view and way of showing up in my life and there is now.
One such subject where my point of view has changed radically is this concept of the journey. Specifically, of enjoying the journey.
Because the pre-LoA me…often did not pay much attention to the journey because I was so fixated on getting to whatever destination I was after—the job, the body, the money, the relationship.
Now let me pause for a moment and emphasize that Law of Attraction has always been working in my life. Just as it has always been working in yours.
When I say the pre-LoA me, what I mean is before I knew about and understood and practiced Law of Attraction. So LoA has always been at work in my life, but before my obsession, I certainly wasn’t using Law of Attraction to my advantage.
I was creating by default rather than creating deliberately. I was getting a mixed bag of manifestations, some of what I wanted—sure, but also some of what I didn’t.
So this pre-LoA me had a strained relationship, at best, with the journey on the way to the destination.
As in, I didn’t much enjoy the journey, but always thought it would be worth it to arrive at whatever destination I was trying to get to.
I would sacrifice joy on the journey to get where I wanted to go. I would forfeit feeling good on the journey because I thought that was the price to pay for getting what I wanted.
Essentially, the journey was just a means to the end. The destination—that is what I focused on and prioritized. In my pre-LoA mind, the destination was very much the point.
Let me ground us in what I mean by destination.
A destination is:
- An experience you want to have
- A goal you want to achieve
- A shiny penny you want to acquire
- A state of being you want to embody
For instance, one of my clients has a certain number of social media followers on Instagram as a desired destination. Another client has a new house as her destination. And another client has growing her business to a certain size as a destination to reach.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Desires and destinations are great! They are fantastic because they focus and energize you.
“You are in this focused time/space reality with goals and objectives that call you because as you identify a desire it literally summons life through you.
As you identify a desire—the partner or degree, the freedom or adventure—when you have a desire, it summons life through you. There is a feeling of focus and aliveness to the goals you want to achieve and shiny pennies you want to acquire.
But I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding about the point of all those goals and objectives.
At least I know there used to be for me.
The pre-LoA me was laser focused on getting to the destination. The journey on the way there? Ehhh… the journey was just not as relevant to me. It wasn’t my focus.
- Let’s go back to my client who has a certain number of followers on Instagram as a desired destination. To her that number means impact and influence. She has the destination of that number front and center. It calls her to action. It compels her to act. Arriving at that destination is why she pushes and efforts. The journey is secondary to reaching her goal.
- Or take the client who has a new house as her destination. She thinks: Sure, life is good now, but oh my gosh will it be SO much better when I’m able to buy the dream house. Arriving at that destination is all-consuming. Today, the present moment—and all the present moments until the house is hers—are slightly out of focus because she is fixated on the destination. The journey is secondary to acquiring the shiny penny.
- And the client who wants to grow her business? A company of a certain size is her desired destination. And as she works to get there and struggles to get there and efforts to get there and does what she thinks it takes to get there, my client doesn’t feel particularly good. The journey and how she feels along the way are scarified to the desire of that destination off in the distance.
I can relate to these women. Because that’s exactly how I used to be.
I was so focused on the destination somewhere off in the future that the experience of the journey got lost.
“You think that the goal is to be over there, and we say the goal is the journey over there; the goal is the fun you have along the way on your way to over there.” —Abraham
What?! The goal is the journey over there? The goal is the fun along the way?
Is that how you are looking at the journey on the way to your desired destination? Or are you much like I used to be? Meaning, you see the journey as, well, perhaps not unimportant, but certainly not as important as the end result you’re after—acquiring what you desire, achieving what you desire.
In that earlier quote, Abraham goes on to say: “Life summoning through you is what it’s all about, not the completion of anything.”
Are you nodding your head in agreement? Or are you feeling irritated or skeptical or maybe even sad because you know you’ve been making it all about the completion, the arriving, the ticking it off a list, the achievement itself?
Here’s the thing: When you don’t enjoy the journey, you are missing out on life summoning through you.
You are missing out on that feeling of true aliveness, of engagement and agency, of wonder and joy.
Your desires and those destinations you want to reach are fabulous. Your desires are absolutely meant for you.
This is not about NOT wanting what you want.
It’s about using your desire to focus, and then—here’s the really important part—enjoying the unfolding. Reveling in the journey. Taking pleasure in the journey.
“Now you have it. This delicious unfolding of life experience. That’s the spirt of it, you see. Enjoy the journey there. Enjoy the ideas as they come. Enjoy the feelings of elation as they come. Enjoy the pain, which is the contrast, which sharpens your desire and gives you reason to stop and pivot and transmute energy. Enjoy this process.” —Abraham
Even if you are really knowledgable about Law of Attraction, you may not be particularly enjoying the journey to what you want.
Perhaps you are not embracing the journey to your goals as the delicious unfolding of your life experience.
I can totally relate because the pre-LoA version of me didn’t either.
I worked hard on the journey. I efforted on the journey. I micromanaged and tried to control on the journey. I pushed and forced things on the journey. I took a bunch of action, even when I didn’t feel like it, because that’s what I thought the journey was.
I was anxious for all that so-called delicious unfolding to be done so I could get what I wanted, so I could get to my goal and get my shiny penny.
I can sum it up this way: I got through the journey to get where I wanted to go.
- I got through the journey to get to the degree.
- I got through the journey to get to the promotion.
- I got through the journey to get to the money.
Of course, it wasn’t all bad. That’s certainly not what I’m saying
But I look back now and see such clarity, such a distinction between enjoying the journey as the goal versus getting through the journey to get somewhere else, to get something else.
“You can never have a happy ending at the end of an unhappy journey; it just doesn’t work out that way. The way you’re feeling, along the way, is the way you’re continuing to pre-pave your journey, and it’s the way it’s going to continue to turn out until you do something about the way you are feeling.” —Abraham
Pre-paving is such a powerful concept. It’s one of my absolute favorite LoA concepts. The way you are feeling right now on your journey is pre-paving what’s to come.
So let me ask: How are you feeling along the way? How are you feeling on your journey?
Because you are pre-paving your destination with the vibration you offer on your journey. Happy journey, happy ending. Unhappy journey, unhappy ending.
After all, why are we so intent on getting somewhere we are not? On acquiring something we don’t currently have? Why are we so preoccupied with achieving the goal, having the experience, acquiring the shiny penny?
We want to achieve the goal, have the experience, acquire the shiny penny because we think it will feel a certain way, that it will feel good, that we will feel better. So the way to get to that good feeling destination is to feel good on the journey on your way there.
The other day I was working with a client and she had a breakthrough, which is always so cool to witness.
Her breakthrough was about the emphasis she had been placing on achieving her goals. On getting there.
My client suddenly realized there would always, always, always be new goals. So why was she pushing and hurrying and stressing about getting them all done, completed, achieved?
The same is true for you. Even as you achieve and get and experience everything you are currently wanting, there will be new wants, new desires. And that’s a beautiful thing.
“You’re never going to get to any final place. And so, we want to remind you to relax and start having fun on the way.” —Abraham
Meaning each destination you arrive at, each goal you achieve, each shiny penny you acquire, each experience you have, it’s not final. Because there will always be some new destination you desire.
If that’s true—and it is—then doesn’t it just make sense to enjoy the journey? To enjoy having the goal, to enjoy the unfolding on the way to the goal, and to enjoy achieving the goal?
Because too many of us are momentarily enjoying the feeling of deciding on a goal, but then we want to fast forward to achieving it, and don’t particular enjoy anything along the way.
Think about how much of life we miss when we want to skip past all that unfolding. When we deny ourselves feeling good all the days, weeks, months, years between where we now stand and the arrival at our desired destination.
Abraham is reminding you to relax and have fun along the way.
Use your goal as a focusing mechanism, but then use the filter of feeling good and fun as your way there.
The goal you want to achieve—the promotion, the money, the relationship, the success—is great for providing focus. But once you have that focus, then the journey IS the point, is everything.
“The destination is just a reason to focus, so you can have the journey.” —Abraham
It’s not more complicated than that.
Many of us are not only fixated on the destination, but we are also worried about not getting there. And frustrated it’s taking so long. Abraham says, “If you are not worried about getting to your destination, you can really enjoy your journey.”
Just imagine not being worried or frustrated or impatient about getting to your destination. Just imagine relaxing and releasing your grip on when and how. And just imagine, then, allowing yourself to really and truly enjoy the journey.
Many of us have been trying so hard to get to our Big Bliss—that happy ending of goals achieved and shiny pennies acquired.
But are you taking baby steps of bliss?
Are you having fun along the way? Are you feeling good? Are you following and allowing the flow of fun and feeling good?
“You cannot have a happy ending to an unhappy journey.” —Abraham
While you might not go so far as to characterize the journey you are on as an UNhappy one, you may recognize it is not truly a happy one either.
Abraham wants you to enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going. And all the points in between.
Instead, too many of us are waiting to experience joy until we get where we want to be. We don’t allow ourselves to experience joy until we reach the Big Bliss of our destination.
And when we do that—when we take our bliss-less baby steps toward our desire, we cut ourselves off from the immense resources of the Universe.
“When you tend to the Emotional Journey, this Universe has the resources and the cleverness to orchestrate for each of you what you exactly want.” —Abraham
Doesn’t that sound lovely?
So here’s your invitation: Tend to the emotional journey.
Have fun, feel good—and the resources of the Universe are at your disposal because you have put yourself in vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe.
- Stop living for a future when you’ve reached your destination.
- Stop waiting to be happy until you acquire that shiny penny.
- Stop postponing feeling good until you achieve your goal.
Instead, smell the roses, right now. Find and feel the joy, right now. Enjoy the journey of your life. Enjoying each day.
“You’re on track. You’re on schedule. Nothing’s gone wrong. Everything’s gone right. It’s time for you to start enjoying your journey.” —Abraham
