If I Had Known It'd be the Last Time...

Joy here…Our final weeks and days of our 12 months in Kuala Lumpur came like a crazy blur.  We were in the midst of many goodbyes and festivities.  We celebrated The Man turning 40; we had farewell gatherings with friends and family; and we packed up our whole life to head back to North America.

Celebrating The Man's big 40th birthday at our place in KL!

And somehow in all that insanity, my last bike ride and my last run in Kuala Lumpur came and went, with me always thinking that there'd be another truly truly truly "last" one still to come, one that I would know was the "last" one, and one where I would document every twist and turn, every green leaf, every bend in the road, and every single thought that I had to file it away as something special, something "last."

But, before I knew it, my "last" ride was now behind me, and my bike was packed up.  And then it was my running shoes put away in a suitcase, and my "last" run already completed.

3 bikes and some suitcases getting ready for the return journey.
(In the end, there would be 8 suitcases in addition to the 3
bikes…what can I say?  I guess we don't travel light!)

In both cases, I never really knew it would be the last time, and I felt a bit sad about letting that "last-ness" pass me by unnoticed.

But perhaps that's for the best.  Perhaps it's better that I experienced my "last" bike ride as just one of the many that I was able to enjoy throughout out 12 months WITHOUT WINTER.  Perhaps it's better that my last run was one where I felt strong and healthy and focused on the run itself, not on it being the "last" one.

And maybe, just maybe, that's something that I should remember going forward; I don't need to fixate on the special "last-ness" of any given event, but just stay focused in the immediate living of it, the immediate experience, the present-ness of life.

So while I keep my eye to where I want to go, I will also keep my eye on where I am in the moment, in the now.

Over and out,
Joy