“Set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”

It’s our birthday! This week’s edition marks the start of the 138th volume of this newspaper. Every year we reach this milestone with a sigh of relief. We made it another year, thanks mostly to all of you, our readers, advertisers and subscribers.
Birthdays and anniversaries are a good time for reflection and planning and goal-setting, personally and professionally. One of those motivational quotes has been running through my mind the last few weeks. Some days it inspires, other days it annoys, but its meaning and intent are valid.
“Set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” ~ Seth Godin
We tend to spend a lot of time and energy focused on the future: the next vacation, the next weekend, the next night off, the day the kids grow up and move out, the day we can retire. When stressed or dissatisfied, it’s easy to fall into the habit of daydreaming about potential ways to escape… a move, a new relationship, or disappearing off the grid. There’s nothing wrong with daydreaming, or with planning ahead, until those activities make us lose sight of where we are right now, and what we have to be grateful for, proud of, and satisfied with.
Last Friday I did one of those whirlwind round-trip runs to Denver, all in one day. That trip used to be a lot easier when I was younger. It now requires a rest day and a visit to the chiropractor afterward.
I made it to Denver, picked up a printing project for a client, and debated my options. I’d planned to stay overnight if needed, considered visiting friends, getting food at some restaurant we don’t have on this side of the state, and maybe take in a movie. But all I wanted to do was turn around and get over the mountain, out of the traffic, and back home. So I did. And then I considered how much time I spend thinking about “getting away from it all.”
So I’ve been asking myself, whenever “escaping” starts to seem more appealing than reality, what small steps can I take right now to improve my life. Step one, I’m finding, is always gratitude. Step two is an attitude adjustment — the grass is not greener anywhere else. Step three is taking action, whether it’s washing the dishes or mowing the lawn or calling a friend or walking the dog, doing something that gets me back into the present can break off that aggravating grown-up case of “senioritis” that wheedles and whines that everything would be better in some imaginary future destination.
Be here now.
Be present.
Be grateful.