When you see the finish line, and you're wondering how it will feel to cross it.

But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line? 

~Diana Nyad

I find myself at a time in my life right now when I am in transition with my career. I've made the decision to move from one position where I've developed skills I have wanted to explore for years, to another position that will bring many of my lifetime of experiences together. 

And to transition, I have to come to a 'finish line' and move forward. 

It feels strange, and a bit uncomfortable. It got me thinking about 'finish lines' in our life, and how I can put a joyous perspective on crossing them.

How can we cross them with a sense of success and completion of a goal? For those criteria to be met, I'll need something to evaluate. Which means it's time to realize what is important for a joyous perspective.

Most of us want to be successful, if not in monetary terms, then by our definitions.

We want to feel a sense of meaning, to do something worthwhile that we can be proud of. Something that matters to people. Something that will live on after we do.

And as looked ahead at my finish line, I saw myself forgetting to be present in the now. To truly finish well, the entirety of the journey counts. We often get so caught up in becoming who we want to be that we miss on being those people right now. We get so focused on striving - getting things done, crossing items off the to-do list - that we forget to enjoy simply that purpose that matters so much. We approach tasks like races, anxious to reach the finish line.

Sometimes when we move closer through achievements, we move further away in passion. We forget why we began the race in the first place.

Take the personal trainer who wishes he had more clients, so he obsesses about it all through his workout.

Or the gifted artist who works fourteen hours a day at graphic design so one day he’ll have enough money to paint more.

Or the Job Coach, who is so focused on not leaving anything undone that she overlooks the client in the parking lot who wants to tell her about his day.

Striving toward the finish doesn’t have to mean disconnecting from your bliss.

Even while I am coming to my 'finish line', I still love what I am doing. I can love it all the way up to the finish line, even beyond.

You can reach your goals, and you should keep doing those things that get you there, but your purpose doesn’t need to be something you reach. It can be something you feel and enjoy right now.

Do what you love today. Not to get anywhere, just to do it.

Cheers.