Yesterday was mainly spent in meetings and in the car going to meetings. Nothing went according to plan which really seems to be the theme of late.

My frustration has been mounting because it seems that my good planning is so frequently disrupted by things beyond my control. If I were a toddler, my parents would be making me take a nap right now.

At one point last night I found myself behind a pickup truck. It was just your average run-of-the-mill pickup with a little rust on the tailgate and a fellow driving at his own pace. What made that truck special was the dog riding in the bed.

I’m a cat person so my understanding of dogs is that there are big ones with sharp teeth and little ones with sharp teeth and an attitude. I can pick out obvious breeds like German Shepherd, Husky and Marmaduke but that’s about all.

This dog was of medium size and black with the prettiest big ‘ole smile you’ve ever seen. His expressions were of pure joy. He paced the bed of the truck, barking at motorcycles when we stopped at traffic lights and wagging his tail like your Aunt Thelma shooing away flies at a 4th of July picnic anytime we picked up speed.

This dog was one very happy pup.

It got me to thinking about living in the moment and accepting that you’re sometimes just along for the ride.

This dog was happy no matter what. We have to stop? Yay! We get to go now? Woohoo! He was happy simply being out in the sunshine with his ears flapping in the wind. He wasn’t in charge of where he went or how soon they got there but the journey was grand fun.

As humans, we often get so caught up in the trip that we forget to enjoy the journey.

Read that again.

We get so caught up in the daily grind of life that we forget to enjoy the experience of being alive.

It seems like we can do better than this.

So the next time things aren’t going your way, take a moment to ask yourself if being uptight and upset is really the best way to enjoy your life’s journey.

Spoiler alert: The correct answer to that question is no.