Whatever happens,
Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
Remember this;
No one can take the Fire out of your soul,
the Stars from your eyes,
the Passion in your heart.
Those are yours forever.
~Sheryl Silbaugh
Do you remember that famous line from “The Wizard of Oz”? Almost at the end, Glinda the Good Witch says, “You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas”, then the Scarecrow asked why she didn’t say anything at the beginning of the journey? And Glinda replies, “She had to learn it for herself.” The same thing is true for each of us.
“Have faith in your journey. Everything had to happen exactly as it did to get you where you’re going next.”
~Mandy Hale
I love the thought of curiosity in our travels. Around the next corner, you never know what might be waiting for you. Your focus will reflect what pops out at you. You will notice the sun shining brightly, or the clouds coming to cover it up. You will see rainbows or the coming thunderstorm. It is all a matter of the filters that you are viewing your life from. Each experience adds up to who we are at this very moment. And each moment presents change and a new you. Who are you becoming, as you journey down the road of life?
“The journey between what you once were and who are you now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.”
~Barbara DeAngelis
Sometimes when I have some specific goals in mind, time seems to be so slow. I feel like I am wading through the mud, with each step taking so much effort. Stepping down and feeling the cold water and mud flooding my boots. Even my toes are struggling to get a grip on the sole of the boot, as I am trying to lift my foot out of the mud and take the next step. Fighting against the boot as it is wanting to remain stuck in the mud, as I tug at it and try not to lose my footing. It takes forever just to take a few steps in the right direction. Have you ever felt that way? I hope I am not the only one who has to remind myself that each experience in my life, has been right on time. I wasn’t late according to the divine destiny. Each step and each situation that showed up at my doorstep was right on time.
“I am learning to trust the journey even when I do not understand it.”
~Mile Bron
Each obstacle that I have encountered, every mountain that I had to climb up, and then back down again strengthened the muscles. Some of the muscles were physical, some mental, some were spiritual. Learning to pace myself. Learning about the importance of not getting caught in the mind whirlpool of indecision. Learning that even when I thought that I was abandoned by God, I was always being supported. The breakdown teaches you so much about yourself. You are stronger than you will ever know. No matter what is falling apart in your life this minute, you can conquer anything and anyone.
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”
–Summer Saldana
It is also important to take the time to give thanks to every single person that has been a part of your life’s journey so far. The wisdom of the mentors in your life. The love of family. The blessing of friends, who are only a text, message or phone call away. I love that I can Skype girlfriends from around the world, and see their faces and feel in my soul how much they care and support me. I have to remind myself, to stop and enjoy the journey. I have a habit of getting so involved in planning, in working, in taking action, that I spend all my time “doing” instead of taking time to just “be”. To remember that joy and happiness are found within the journey itself, not as a reward for reaching a new destination.
I am deeply reminded that our life’s journey is a gift, not a given, and that we can never truly know how long the journey will last. All we can do is decide how it unfolds.
~Sonia Choquette
The best part about the journey of self-discovery, is that it really never ends. Because each time you reach a destination, the new you that it took to get there, looks around and says, “Where are we going to go now?” The journey has way stops or checkpoints along the way, but each destination opens doors to new places to go to and new ways we grow into. Sometimes going around the corner to a new destination, is simply learning to look at familiar things with new eyes. The thing that I know for certain, is that the journey is never over. Even when we leave this life, we are still on a journey.
“You are not on a journey to God; you are on a journey with God.”
~Dr. Steve Maraboli
It’s important to go on journeys. But, there are journeys and there is wandering. As long as we have a compass and a map to guide us the journey will be fruitful. If we get lost, because of the stress we will get very little value from our journeys.
As Tolkien said, not all who wander are lost – always good to have a map for detours and side tracks. It is really about listening to that small soft voice of the soul that says, take a left or right turn here. The road less traveled is an awesome place to discover who we are and where we need to go. I have found the best antique shops and junk stores, by taking that left or right turn, instead of just staying on the freeway and passing by all of those small towns.
I am pilgrim by heart. I always imaging a long winding road with many lessons by the wayside. I embrace the journey and the fellow pilgrims along the way.
Wasn’t Gandalf always lost and always late? I have no problems wandering as long as there is a deadline. When exploring innovation and big things like business models, we always have to wander and explore. We go on a journey. That said the journey should have a few locations we want to visit with a final destination (aka vision) in mind. Or else we never will get to where we need to go.
Tolkien was portrayed in a time traveling TV show a few weeks back called “Legends of Tomorrow”. If Tolkien was like that in real life, he was a pretty cool dude.
Grand advice, my kind of read.
Thank you. Happy journeys to glorious destinations!
Sheryl I really like this. It touches my heart that you are so open to sharing your journey. It reflects many similar things from my journey
Thank you! It is kind of funny, how when we look at others, we assume that they have it all together. That they don’t have as many problems in their lives as we do. That somehow we are all alone in our own story. The truth is in fact the opposite. We all are on very similar journeys. I think that when we share our journeys with others, they no longer feel like they are the only ones. It encourages us to get up one more time, to go one more step.
I could not agree with you more. You take care my friend.
Really like this Sheryl. It touches my heart and reflects many things from my journey. Thank you for sharing.