I’ll admit it. My journey has been far from perfect. Correction. My journey has been far from what I imagined it would. I believe we all have this idealized version of the path our life is going to follow, and rarely (if ever) does life follow neatly along said path.
The past couple of years I have felt like my life has not been on a path at all. Rather, it has felt like I have been taking a machete to jungle surrounding me—trying desperately to find my path (any path) again.
I finally feel like I have found not only any path, but MY path again. Because I had been off the trail for such a long time it has taken some time traveling the path to recognize it as my own again and feel comfortable following it. In some ways it felt too easy which made me wary of whether or not it was mine. Then I realized, my path should be comfortable and familiar. It isn’t necessarily always going to easy, but it should still feel like “home.”
I also don’t want to give the impression I believe our paths are already set and we simply have to wander along them to get wherever they may lead. Far from that, in fact, I believe we are actively making our way along the path of life. At any moment, there are ups and downs and forks that change our trajectory. I do believe, however, we can have a vision (a goal if you will) of where we want our path to go. We then take each step forward toward the endgame.
The path I have already traversed is done. There is nothing I can do about the time spent in the jungle wandering and wondering when I would find the path again. I can do nothing about what lies between me and where I intend to go. What I CAN control is where this step lands. As long as my foot lands on the path headed in the direction I intend my life, I know I am moving forward in the right direction.
I am happy to know, today, my foot is landing on my path and headed the direction I want to go. I am grateful for the time I spent off the trail so I can recognize and appreciate where I WANT to be. I’m not saying I want to wander into the jungle any time soon just to remind myself not to stay there, but I am thankful to recognize the benefit that has had on me.
While life rarely goes according to our well-intentioned plans, the one thing I know is: it keeps moving forward. It is in my best interest to continue moving forward with it—whether the path may lead. I can’t see the exact path ahead, it may lead into the jungle again. I am OK with that though because I know I can handle it. I can maneuver my way through and emerge with my head held high and moving along my path in the direction I know I want to go.