Great Expectations

Wow! It's been quite a few weeks since my last blog post, and what better time than during a cold, wet November day in East Texas?

Actually, I was going to post much sooner, but one thing has stopped me -- anticipation.

For starters, it's been six months since I left the Texas A&M Health Science Center. While I've appreciated the break and rest, I'm ready to go back into the "game" of communications and public relations. I've submitted numerous job applications. I've completed job interviews -- some of which I'm still waiting on a potential follow-up. I've been anticipating an announcement, so I haven't posted.

Next week -- the first week of December -- my wife and I are off to Las Vegas for the week to celebrate her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We've made most of the plans but left room in our schedule for free time. I've anticipated this trip for months, but we haven't touched down in "Sin City," so I haven't posted.

Thanksgiving and the holiday season are just around the corner. I'm anticipating the time with family and friends, along with food and fun. But that's still a few weeks off.

Then, in a few weeks, those activities will be memories, and there will be new things for me to anticipate.

It's part of life. So often we are anxious and impatient, hoping time would hurry so our opportunity or event will come. As Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sang, "The Waiting" is the hardest part.

It's at these times that I must remember to enjoy the journey. "Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them," wrote Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and she's right. While it's our nature to look ahead, we can't be so consumed with the future that we fail to appreciate the ride in the present.

So, instead of waiting to blog about something still to come, I'm posting now. And hey -- maybe you'll be anticipating what I write about next!

Til the next time...