In the rush to do more, be more and see more, I find that we lose our sense of contentment with the simple things in life.

During the weeks leading up to spring break, I found myself thinking over and over that I would be okay if I could just make it to spring break. I told myself that my trip to Germany would erase all of the stress that classes and work brought.

For that time, I relied on the idea that what comes next will be better than the season I am in right now. In doing this, I failed to find joy in the moments with friends and family I had before spring break.

Of course going to Germany is something to be excited about, but my excitement for what comes next should not override my excitement for what I am doing in the moment.

Once our departure date arrived and we boarded the plane, I found that I was already trying to rush things again. I was three hours into the plane ride counting down the minutes until I could get off the plane. I was focusing on the excitement of being in Germany rather than the journey that it took to get there.

A few days into the trip I realized how much I tried to rush things. We were on the way to visit Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria and arrived at noon. However, due to the snow, all of the shuttles up the mountain were canceled, and the next tour was postponed to 4 p.m.

Being that it was a Sunday in a small town in Germany, most of the stores and restaurants were closed for the day. We found a small German restaurant in the town and stayed there for a few hours.

Immediately I began thinking of how ready I was to get to the castle and not be stuck in the restaurant. However, once we began talking, I came to realize how beautiful a moment like this was. By the end of our lunch table conversations, we talked about everything from funny pet stories to our dreams after college. We all had a better understanding of each other. The conversations shared over lunch will be one of my most cherished memories from the trip.

We all embraced the time the delay gave us to slow down and spent the next two hours discussing our perspective of the trip, our goals and dreams.

Through this time, we were able to forget the rush of our mundane lives and take the moment to embrace a different country together.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the rush of life that we focus on the starting point and end destination, and we forget to focus on the small things and important moments that occur during the journey from the start to finish, the little things that make us smile during the course of the day.

In doing this, we limit ourselves to only enjoying our lives when we reach our ultimate destination. We must remember that some of the best moments will come in the most mundane of times.

Whether it be a hot cup of coffee shared with good conversation or a sunny day at the beach, there are important moments that we can not afford to miss because we are too focused on our end goal. Do not forget to slow down. Take moments to cherish the little things in life. It doesn’t matter the amount of what you do in your life, but the breath at which you live your life.