{"id":420,"date":"2013-07-05T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T11:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/?p=420"},"modified":"2013-07-05T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T11:41:24","slug":"there-and-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html","title":{"rendered":"THERE and HERE…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"here<\/a>Why am I so seldom satisfied with where I am?<\/p>\n

Why does over there always appear more enchanting than right here?<\/p>\n

Why is it that I look forward to vacation\u2026make plans\u2026detailed plans\u2026imagine the fun, the relaxation I\u2019m going to have\u2026the stuff I\u2019m going to do or not do and the consequential rejuvenation I\u2019m going to feel getting away. Then, after months of planning, nights of dreaming, the vacation comes\u2026and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026it is anything but what I imagined?<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ve lived a good portion of my life \u2013 and, you probably have, too – looking for something beyond that could only ever be found beneath.<\/p>\n

I have long suspected the real reason religious people look for heaven out there is because they\u2019ve given up hope of ever knowing one here. In fact, I\u2019m pretty sure the more you wish for something to come, the more you\u2019ve lost of what\u2019s arrived already.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to agree with my thoughts. You can keep looking, longing, and living for something that isn\u2019t. Good luck with that.<\/p>\n

Or, you can begin living instead\u2026living INTO what is.<\/p>\n

Mark Nepo puts it like this: \u201cHere is always beneath there.\u201d<\/p>\n

What you \u201cbelieve\u201d matters. And, a lot of the stuff you and I were taught to \u201cbelieve\u201d is just plain wrong.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve been trying to question everything in the last few years. For example, whenever I feel discontented, I take pause and remind myself that what I\u2019m looking for out there is the contentment I could know right here.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another example: whenever I feel disconnected from God, I know what I\u2019m really missing is a deep connection to myself.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because God lives in me, my friend\u2026she lives in you, too. So, get this: you can\u2019t get much closer than that.<\/p>\n

If you cannot feel God here\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026there\u2019s a pretty good chance you\u2019re looking there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why am I so seldom satisfied with where I am? Why does over there always appear more enchanting than right here? Why is it that I look forward to vacation\u2026make plans\u2026detailed plans\u2026imagine the fun, the relaxation I\u2019m going to have\u2026the stuff I\u2019m going to do or not do and the consequential rejuvenation I\u2019m going to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224,5,190],"tags":[742,741,737,730,731,740,739,738,736,743,47,733,729,734,735,732],"class_list":["post-420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-2","category-happiness","category-life-2","tag-deep-connection","tag-disconnected-from-god","tag-found-beneath","tag-here","tag-here-and-there","tag-here-is-always-beneath-there","tag-living-into-what-is","tag-look-for-heaven","tag-looking-for-something-beyond","tag-looking-there","tag-mark-nepo","tag-satisfied","tag-there","tag-vacation","tag-what-i-imagined","tag-where-i-am"],"yoast_head":"\nTHERE and HERE... - Your Best Life Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THERE and HERE... - Your Best Life Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why am I so seldom satisfied with where I am? Why does over there always appear more enchanting than right here? Why is it that I look forward to vacation\u2026make plans\u2026detailed plans\u2026imagine the fun, the relaxation I\u2019m going to have\u2026the stuff I\u2019m going to do or not do and the consequential rejuvenation I\u2019m going to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Best Life Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-05T11:41:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/07\/here-and-there.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"smcswain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"THERE and HERE... - Your Best Life Now","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"THERE and HERE... - Your Best Life Now","og_description":"Why am I so seldom satisfied with where I am? Why does over there always appear more enchanting than right here? Why is it that I look forward to vacation\u2026make plans\u2026detailed plans\u2026imagine the fun, the relaxation I\u2019m going to have\u2026the stuff I\u2019m going to do or not do and the consequential rejuvenation I\u2019m going to…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html","og_site_name":"Your Best Life Now","article_published_time":"2013-07-05T11:41:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/07\/here-and-there.jpg"}],"author":"smcswain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html","name":"THERE and HERE... - Your Best Life Now","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/07\/here-and-there.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-05T11:41:24+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-05T11:41:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#\/schema\/person\/a79b0cba765879c3d1711d801e7b5018"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/07\/here-and-there.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/07\/here-and-there.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/07\/there-and-here.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"THERE and HERE…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/","name":"Your Best Life Now","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#\/schema\/person\/a79b0cba765879c3d1711d801e7b5018","name":"smcswain","description":"I'm an Author... Leadership Coach... Counsel to Non-Profits, Faith-based Organizations and Congregations... Adjunct Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky... Spiritual Teacher... Inspirational and Motivational Speaker. But not always in this order. On the university campus, I teach students the Art of Communication. In my public talks, however, I teach leaders the Art of Leading; I teach everyone the Art of Living...so that... when you come to the end... and, you will come to the end... You're able to look back on life feeling... Fulfilled... Accomplished... Content, Peaceful, and Happy, too... Knowing your brief but important journey has made this world a more... Conscious... Compassionate, and... Charitable place. What could possibly be more important than this?","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.stevemcswain.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/author\/smcswain"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":422,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}