What You Do In The In-Between Matters

For a long time, adventure has called my name. I’ve been drawn to whitewater rafting, skydiving, ice climbing, and other adventurous activities.

My life tries to revolve around these fun and exciting trips. They seem to draw the most out of my life. They make me feel alive.

However, I’m being drawn into the in-between moments lately.

I wonder if you’re realizing the in-between matters just as much, if not more, than the big events in our lives.

Image by Ramiro Ramirez

What Is The In-Between?

You may be wondering what is the In-Between. I’ll try to explain it to you.

The In-Between is the time between adventures. When you’re really living life and not just a sound bite. It’s the down time. It’s the daily grind. It’s being.

That’s my definition.

What really got me thinking about the In-Between is a book by my friend Jeff Goins. He recently released The In-Between. And it’s been a killer read so far.

Here’s how Jeff explains the In-Between:

The In-Between is the waiting in our lives. It’s the tension between Now and the Next Big Thing

I think Jeff’s explanation is perfect for where I want to take this post.

What Matters

I’ve lived some adventures, I mentioned a few of them in the opener of this post. Do you know what I’ve realized? While they’re fun, enjoyable, exciting, they’re not everything. In the end, they’re not even all that important.

Sure, skydiving was fun. But it only lasted a few minutes. Whitewater rafting lasted a bit longer, a couple of hours. Ice climbing was the longest one of my adventures lasted and that was only a couple of days.

Totaling up the amount of time I’ve spent on adventure doesn’t compare to the time spent in the In-Between. It’s a small, small number.

What really takes up our lives is the time spent away from the next big thrill. The downtime.

Because this In-Between time takes up so much of our lives, we’ve got to realize it matters in our lives. It’s the mass of it.

A lot of our lives may seem mundane. The truth is it can be anything but mundane.

The In-Between is where relationships are maintained. It’s where lasting memories are made. It’s where you were meant to be.

Question: What are you doing in the In-Between times of your life? Are you squandering it or are you embracing the greatness of The In-Between? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.