Well, I hope that through the conversation of me telling you about my journey that you'll see something in your journey that can serve as a guidepost. You can never hope for much more than that when you're in that "seeking" phase. That seeking phase is also a very confusing place, one that leaves you wondering "just what is it" that you're searching for? Often times, it seems as though every single area of your own life is a total and complete shambles, meaningless, worthless. This is part of the discovery process though - or so I believe from my experience. It's in facing these realities that our focus begins to shift towards what is meaningful. Not having really given it a lot of thought and not having been taught, it is a tough climb to find that meaning. For each individual, that meaning is significantly different. There are many clues within you, but putting all the pieces together, like any good jigsaw puzzle, will take quite some time. You can imagine what I mean with that metaphor. I'm not particularly fond of puzzles because I like activities that have a more immediate feedback response. This journey has not allowed me to escape from the reality of life being that puzzle and I'm the masterpiece. An ordinary puzzle takes a considerable period of time, so imagine the masterpiece that each human-being represents and you begin to see that solving that puzzle will take you some time. Don't be frustrated by this though. I think we easily frustrate because we feel so much pressure from the world around us. It's conditioned us to perform and produce immediate results. The truth of life however, is that anything worthwhile takes time. Look at Mother Nature: time is her ally; she will outlast us all; all that is man-made will be swallowed by her awesome power in time. Why can't our lives unfold much in that same way? Becoming aware of your journey, your values, coincidences, participate actively in the process of your life; pursue something, anything. All things contribute to your goal, a goal you are not even completely aware of yet. Action leads to opportunity and opportunity leads to growth and learning. People, situations, signals, repetitive themes and occurrences: if you're awareness increases, you should begin to see patterns that reveal something about what you're in pursuit of. The final thing I have learned though is about fear. Fear holds us back and, as in the "Fog of War", when we are in a fog we usually don't see what is plainly right in front of us that we are to pursue. It's no ones fault but our own. I admit that I have been caught in its nasty jaws many times and have spent considerable time pondering my pitiful life. Finally, when I decided to take control back of my life, I faced my fear; the fear of the unknown and even without "knowing for sure" I began to walk the path that I believed to be there for me. Now, I haven't told any specifics about the situations and it's rather a high-level explanation but I hope one that resonates. I think that is also the benefit of reading Po Bronson's book, What Should I Do with My Life? I learned from the combined examples in the book that our journeys are unique, that there are no definitive answers until you look back, and sometimes you won't reach the goals and in many cases, you'll discover you've been chasing the wrong goals as you find yourself achieving what you really are here to do. The truth is, you know it better than anyone but until you put the puzzle pieces together, it won't be clear. Best wishes, Lee |
