John Lennon once said: 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.'

This quote has been running through my head this afternoon, as I have busied myself with what Sarah and I have been calling 'getting back to square one.'

The past 18 months have felt a bit like a major journey across a turbulent ocean. You make a plan, you get maps, you get prepared, you stock supplies... and off you go. For a while, all goes as it was planned. Then, a storm comes along. Some of your supplies get washed overboard. Maybe the mainmast breaks. And while you're adrift, everyone onboard catches some kind of disease... slowing down repairs. And just when you think everyone is well, and repairs are almost done... your drifting ship hits a submerged reef-- mostly because everyone was busy getting the ship ready to resume the journey, once again. And so, more time is spent on more repairs.

It is, I suppose, part of this thing called Life that we can't always focus 100% of our bandwidth on those things we deem 'most important,' because sometimes other things pop up and clamor for our attention. And-- for a while-- those things take over as MORE important. These things that come up are typically time consuming, frequently distracting and a times very frustrating. And if we don't pay attention, it is easy to get off track...

13th century mystic poet Rumi once wrote 'Don't go back to sleep.'

The more I think about it, the more I realize that a central part of Staying Present in our lives (or not 'going back to sleep') is about staying the course and keeping firmly in mind what is important... even while 'life happens' and temporarily keeps us from actively pursuing our long term goals and desires.

And so it is that I find myself 'cleaning up square one' so the journey can continue where I left off.