One of the things Foreign Service folks love to talk about at just about every social gathering or event you attend is previous assignments, future assignments, and bidding. Everyone always seems to have one foot halfway out the door even though they still have a significant amount of time in the place they currently are.

In the excitement of waiting to learn my next assignment, I have to remind myself to continue to keep focused on the present. I’m not going to lie and say I am not excited about learning where we will be moving next year, but I definitely have to remind myself that what I have right now is a good thing. I have a great job, work with a great group of individuals, have great staff in the health unit, have a great home, am learning more French every week, and have a nice social circle that keeps me busy. I continue to appreciate all the great things that I currently have, because nothing in the future is guaranteed.

It’s entirely possible my next post will be a fantastic city with lots of green space and things to do, but the job itself might become far more stressful for a variety of reasons. There’s no sense in spending all this time looking forward to something while sacrificing the present, especially if and when I get wherever we are going, realize it isn’t as great as I thought it would be, and then look back regretting not appreciating Mauritania more.

I get that our job always has us looking forward, and it’s important to keep all your ducks in a row because moving a lot sucks, but it’s important to not get so wrapped up in the future, that you forget to live in the present. I have roughly one more year of living in Mauritania, and I am going to enjoy it. –Nick