Are We There Yet?!

The Story

Are we there yet?

“Are we there yet?”

Sassy had an important question.

They'd been traveling for what felt like approximately seventeen years.

There had been stops. There had been delays. There had been a suspicious shortage of snacks.

And according to Sassy, they were making remarkably little progress toward whatever wonderful thing was supposed to happen at the end.

Jenny glanced over.

“Sassy, we're on an Adventure.”

“Yes, Mom. But when do we GET there?”

Well.

That was an interesting question.

Because Jenny had spent much of her life going somewhere.

There were goals to reach. Things to learn. Dreams to pursue. Problems to solve.

And sometimes, right in the middle of all that effort, she'd wondered whether she was ever going to get anywhere.

The messy middle.

You know the place.

Where the excitement of starting something has worn off, the finish line is nowhere in sight, and somebody has apparently forgotten to install the escalator.

It's where you practice something a hundred times and still get it wrong.

Where you save money and the unexpected bill arrives.

Where you try a new approach, discover it doesn't work, and find yourself back at the drawing board.

Welcome to the Messy Middle. Please keep your arms, legs, and unrealistic timelines inside the Adventure at all times.

Jenny liked having goals.

A goal could give her direction.

On difficult days, it could remind her why she'd started. Why she was practicing, saving, learning, trying again.

But somewhere along the way, she began noticing something curious.

She could get so focused on where she was going that she nearly missed where she was.

And where she was?

Well, that was her life.

Not the rehearsal.

Not the waiting room.

Not the boring part before the real Adventure began.

This was the Adventure.

She thought about the little house where she and her husband had spent nineteen years.

They hadn't needed stone pillars to have laughter, love, dogs, or adventures.

Years later, they found a beautiful home they hadn't expected to have.

And even then, there wasn't some magical moment when life announced:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ARRIVED. ALL FUTURE HAPPINESS IS NOW GUARANTEED.

Apparently, the universe doesn't issue those certificates.

There were still worries.

Still Rocks.

Still things to learn.

Still unexpected discoveries.

And, of course, Sassy.

Who could turn an ordinary afternoon into an entire philosophical investigation simply by hiding on a bed.

Jenny began to wonder about all the destinations she'd imagined over the years.

What if a goal took ten years?

What if she reached it?

What if she didn't?

What about the days in between?

The people she met. The skills she learned. The mistakes that eventually became funny stories. The moments she noticed. The moments she nearly missed.

Would those days matter less because the outcome was different from what she'd hoped?

Or were those days the very thing she'd been living for?

She still wanted to dream big.

She still wanted destinations.

She still wanted to work toward wonderful things.

But she didn't want to spend the journey waiting for permission to enjoy her life.

Because there was something wonderfully strange about Becoming.

There wasn't a final version of Jenny waiting somewhere at the finish line.

She could reach a goal and discover another curiosity.

Change direction.

Learn something unexpected.

Try again.

Become someone she hadn't even imagined when the Adventure began.

Sometimes Jenny looked back at where she'd started and how far she'd traveled.

Goodness, what an Adventure.

There had been wonderful discoveries, spectacular wrong turns, a few Rocks that probably required heavy machinery, and plenty of moments when she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

She could look back and think about all the things she hadn't known then.

But she hadn't known them. She'd been busy living the Adventure that would eventually help her discover them.

And now, standing here with everything she'd learned so far, she had a different question.

What can I do?

Not twenty years ago. Not when she'd finally figured everything out.

What can I do now?

What stories could she share? What questions could she leave along the trail? What kind of ripples could she create?

And then there was something a little scarier.

What if she let people see her being completely, unapologetically herself?

The silly ideas. The talking dog. The ridiculous adventures. The imagination she'd spent so many years keeping tucked away.

Because putting those things into the world meant letting people see a part of her they might not understand.

Some might laugh. Some might roll their eyes. And some might recognize something.

Jenny thought about little Jenny.

The girl who might have seen a grown-up being wonderfully silly and thought:

“Wait. She gets to do that?”

And perhaps, a moment later:

“Maybe I could, too.”

There it was. A little borrowed belief.

Not a lesson. Not an instruction. Just someone living openly enough to make another possibility visible.

Jenny couldn't know whether anyone would see themselves in her stories. She couldn't choose what they'd take from them.

But she could create the Sassiverse.

A place full of curiosity, laughter, Rocks, Daily Sparkles, ridiculous adventures, and opportunities to discover something about the life you're already living.

She could be herself. She could put something into the world and let the ripples travel wherever they might.

And maybe that was another wonderful thing about the messy middle.

Jenny wasn't finished Becoming either. She was still learning, still experimenting, still finding the courage to share another piece of herself.

The Sassiverse wasn't the destination she'd finally reached. It was part of the Adventure she was living today.

And she was rather excited to see where it might go.

“Mom?”

Sassy was still waiting.

“Yes, Sassy?”

“Are we there yet?”

Jenny smiled.

“We're here.”

Sassy looked around.

“Here doesn't look like the destination.”

“Maybe not.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Jenny looked at the trail ahead.

Then at the trail behind them.

Then at the dog who was already discovering something fascinating beside the path.

“Well, Sassy. I suppose we could enjoy the Adventure.”

Sassy considered this.

“Does the Adventure have snacks?”

Naturally.

Some things never change.

A Little Borrowed Belief

You're already in the Adventure.

A goal can be a wonderful thing to carry.

It can give us direction, courage, and a reason to keep going when the trail gets difficult.

And perhaps the days between starting and arriving are worth noticing, too.

There can be joy in progress, discovery in detours, and meaning in experiences that never appear on a finish-line photograph.

We don't have to stop dreaming about tomorrow to be present for today.

We can celebrate the destination if we reach it.

We can grieve an outcome that doesn't happen.

And we can keep discovering what matters along the way.

Because the Adventure isn't waiting for us somewhere in the future.

We're already in it.

And Becoming?

That doesn't come with a finish line.