Beauty

Beauty. 

This  title caught my eye the other day when I ran across the book Chasing Slow written by blogger Erin Loechner. As I read I came across these words, "Beauty is not found in the after. It's in the during."

How many times have we been so engrossed in the finished product, that we have been oblivious to the process? When my daughter became engaged I counseled her not to get so caught up in the stress wedding planning can bring, and really enjoy the process. I can honestly say we enjoyed preparing for that beautiful day, as well as make life-long memories of our time doing so. 

I am a very results oriented person, and although there is value in that, many times I don't allow myself to slow down enough to smell the roses. 

In failing to acknowledge the beauty along the way, I may not actually fulły appreciate the end result. In fact, sometimes I'm left with the nagging sensation that I could have done more? 

So rather than only focusing on the "after," maybe we should just slow down the "during" to truly capture the beauty it may bring.