Life is a Journey

I think about life as a path, a journey.  Moving forever forward, even if it doesn't always feel like it.  We are each placed on our path without the ability to choose where we start.  We have no choice in that, of course; but we have choices, eventually, how our journey proceeds, what paths we take.

Every human being has their own unique path.  And someday every human being's path ends.  We have no choice in that, either.  It is definitely going to end, this journey.

Most paths never cross.  Some whose paths we cross, we may wish we hadn't.  Some paths connect and run parallel for life.  Some paths run parallel for years and then one ends (death) and the other person''s keeps on its forward-momentum.  Some paths intersect, run parallel, and then veer off in a perpendicular motion and we have to watch them go.  But the path, our path, continues forward.

We find road blocks, pitfalls, sorrow and bliss.  We find useful tools along the path that we pick up and carry for a while and maybe keep, because they do us good.  We find our path leads through light as well as sometimes deep dark; but we go on.

Actions happen on our journey, called "life".  LIFE happens on our path.  We find a roadblock and we work on it; and we either move it out of the way or rebuild it to fit our path, or we find a way over/under/around the roadblock.

And every action that happens has a consequence.  Consequences are what happens after the action; consequences including emotions.  We have an array of emotions available as humans to handle the actions that happen (life) as we move along.  We choose to use our emotions to help us deal with and understand the actions.

Using the emotions we do use is a choice.  We choose to feel anger, or we choose to allow/feel sadness; and we can choose to use something altogether different when the need is right.  But, how we choose to react to action, leave no doubt, is a choice.  

We can choose to scare people away from our path so we feel safer, alone.  We can choose to allow sadness to carry us for a while until we peer out from that choice and realize that the sun is shining today, and a smile feels better than the frown.

We can ignore those whose paths cross ours, intersect with our path, or we can choose to welcome them and see how long our paths run parallel.  But, the important thing is, we choose.

I choose to remember everything that has happened on my path and use the consequential burdens of emotional choices made since, to help me learn how to be stronger so I am better able to more successfully navigate the next roadblock.  My path is at least, if not more than, half over.  I do not want to waste any day on my journey allowing (which is my choice) any one path's departure from mine to weigh me down with the consequential burdens of useless bad self-thoughts and emotions.  I choose instead to believe it was time our paths veered apart or else we would still be parallel together.  

I am first responsible for my own happiness; therefore, I will carry no consequential burdens of negative emotions for very long.  Little snatches of them crop up now and then; but my strength lies from understanding that I can make a decision to keep them with me for a while, or I can run down my path until I find the sunshine and to see whose path crosses mine.

My path and my choices on it determine if I succumb to, or succeed in, life's actions, life's passion, life's gifts.  Me?  I plan to leave consequential burdens lie most of the time and just walk away from them.  I will always look forward to the time when another person's path is ready to intersect and parallel mine for a while so I can learn more from him or her, friend or foe, man, woman or child. 

I do know, life is waiting for me.  I cannot wait to see what comes next.  I hope this message allows you to believe you, too, have that same choice and you can lay down any consequential burdens you may have, and run to see what happens next, what gifts God lays at your feet.  Hopefully each of you accepts your path and feels both challenged and blessed by the opportunity to follow the path and fulfill your life journey.

Peace.