Life is rarely lived in a straight line, no matter how much we try and will it to do so. We travel on the imperceptible arc of a curve, unaware that our direction of travel has changed until one day we wake up to realize that the landscape around us is different than it was before. The little, often unconscious, decisions we make each day nudge us into these turns that over time alter the course our life takes. Decisions about exercise, what to eat, and how we spend our precious time shape who we are. Making these decisions conscious allows us to influence the trajectory of our life.
Sometimes, radical unforeseen events change our course in an immediate and often jarring way: a lover comes home and says goodbye, or someone close to us passes away unexpectedly. The ground below our feet appears to drop out from underneath us and we look around frantically, struggling to figure out which way to go next. After events such as these, it can take a while to find our footing and begin moving forward once more. But those seemingly insignificant choices we make throughout the day can put us back on the curve to a place of stability and calm.
Life is a journey. We see where we would like to go on the distant horizon, but there is no guarantee we will arrive there. There are unforeseen twists and turns and avenues to explore we cannot see until they are right before our eyes. If we arrive at the place we thought we wanted to be, we often realize it’s not quite what we thought it would be. The journey is really the thing anyway. The journey is the place, and each choice we make will determine what that place looks like. If we can learn to rest in the beauty and uncertainess of that, the twists and turns of life become the destination, leading us back to ourselves.
Based on a journal entry from 12.10.12
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