Tag: adventure

The Peaceful Co-Existence Of The Destination & The Journey

The Peaceful Co-Existence Of The Destination & The Journey

The mind is quite powerful, isn’t it? It can create things outside of reality yet we still willingly embrace them as real. 

I can at times find myself standing at the base of mountains only I can see. Mountains of my own fear-based creation in the form of perceived challenges and obstacles I accept to be real standing before me. There are things to attain and achieve, needed outcomes to set me free, yet somehow I have the ability to complicate my own journey forward by painting images of those emotional mountains in my head.

I’m quite experienced at navigating such ascents. In fact I’ve climbed some of these same mountains several times, usually frustrated by the need to climb them yet again. Frustrated with every step forward. Not understanding why I need to retrace my steps yet again.

The present moment sounds like a wonderful place to be, but I’ve spent very little time living there. I’ve always been more about the destination than the journey, a mindset engrained from an early age that there is always more to do and every moment basking in “what is” is one moment that should have been used marching towards some ever-elusive destination. 

A destination driven mindset leaves little room to appreciate the present moments of the journey. There is always somewhere else to be other than the here and the now.

Most of my “inner work” of late has been focused on being at peace with “what is”. And when I find I am once again frustratedly standing at the base of one of those mountains I create in my mind, I am reminded that I still have more work to do. As has been said, “the lessons will continue until the lesson is learned”, which is why, despite my “inner work”, I can still at times find myself with a mountain before me.

A mountain of my own creation.

A mountain which need not exist.

It can be a very uncomfortable space, the present moment. Especially if you’ve spent most of your life running away from “what is”. But in my willingness to stay with it, the discomfort has slowly diminished and I’ve gradually experienced the promised peace attributed to the present moment.  

In the clarity of the present moment I can see the mountains for what they actually are.

One thing I’ve learned about mountains is that you don’t have to climb them if they don’t exist. Just because I’ve habitually created them doesn’t mean I need to continue to do so. 

There are still goals to achieve and outcomes I desire, but the urgency of their completion has been replaced with the consistency of present action. Of not being fearfully overpowered with the vastness and necessity of what’s in front of me and instead showing up fully one moment at a time, embracing the vision without being overwhelmed by it all.

More trust. More flow.

The destination and the journey now peacefully co-exisiting within me.

Photo by Amanda Sandlin on Unsplash

 

Honoring Those Mountains You’ve Climbed

Honoring Those Mountains You’ve Climbed

Perhaps you’ve forgotten how resilient you actually are?

There they were, relics from a different time in my life. Two good sized pieces of crystal with my name engraved in both. I forgot I even had them. These were given to me in recognition of exceeding sales performance expectations from earlier in my professional career. Actually, these weren’t given to me.

I earned them.

While results get the recognition, they never really tell the entire story of what it took to get those results, of what was endured in the process, of what you had to grow through and who you needed to grow into to earn a symbolic piece of crystal with your name on it.

As I unpacked these towel-wrapped pieces from the unmarked cardboard box which had been in the attic for more than 25 years, this older version of me was reminded of who this younger version of me was when I was received these trophies. I remember the challenges of this sales position and the difficult task I had willingly agreed to take on. My focus then shifted toward remembering the challenges I was facing simply being me at that time. The doubts, the fears, the anxiety, the pressure. Yet, somehow that version of me was able to stand at the base of this daunting mountain of a challenge and reach a summit which had never once felt remotely possible for me. It was a brutal climb, bruised and bloodied, but I guess I just kept climbing.

This older version of me cracked a little bit of a smile. I was proud of that younger version of me.

I try not to look back in life. There’s a lot in the rear view mirror that I really don’t wish to re-experience. The losses, the pains, the regrets, the mountains I wasn’t able to climb. Sometimes, though, looking Continue reading “Honoring Those Mountains You’ve Climbed” →