Life is a Journey…

I think it is important to understand that life is a journey. Each one of us is on a grand journey of discovery. We have been given one short life to enjoy now and part of that joy comes from the experience of living. None of us have perfected it or maybe not even come close. We find ourselves smack dab in the middle of this beautiful creation with relationships, responsibilities, free will, and an unlimited, inexhaustible classroom from which we can learn. The question is, what are you learning? There is no age limit when it comes to learning, unless of course you have decided otherwise. None of us have learned all we need to know. The whole point of the thing is to figure out what works best along the way. Have you figured out what works best? Undoubtedly life has taught you some lessons; some not very easy to digest. You’ve had innumerable ups and downs. Did you gain knowledge from both the ups and the downs? None of us like the negative experiences or the difficult lessons, but our duty is to use them for our learning. We all share our quest for happiness! Have you found happiness? This life is a journey.

No two people are exactly alike and thus no two people have the same experiences either. Yet we find similarity throughout all humanity. We are all in this thing together. We are all somewhere down the road of our own journey. We have all began to see patterns in things that work and things that do not work. Add to that, things that used to work but no longer work. Some lessons, despite how often we find ourselves in certain circumstances to finally learn them, continue to appear over and over again. It’s your one problem. It’s your one issue. It is that place in your life that keeps calling out for repair. In fact, until you decide to take it on, it is going to keep coming back. The only plausible solution would be to resolve to solve the problem. It is the “you” you really want to be. And I think you will find, once you start taking it on, it is nowhere near as gnarly as you thought. It, like everything else that holds us back, is some type of lie, some deception, some error we are cleaving onto. Some illogic in our logic. Some false promise that never pays out. Searching in the wrong direction for the wrong things. It behooves us to learn that there is a distinct system in life and the choices are always right and wrong. Wrong not in the sense of preference, but wrong in the sense of origin. One way leads to happiness. One way leads to pain, every time and in all cases. What have you been learning?

I play a lot of golf, at least by amateur standards, and one thing I know for sure is there is a way that works best and all the other ways that don’t work best. When I by chance hit on that way that works best, the result is always pure magic. Yet I spend most of the time working out what doesn’t work best. This is golf and this is life. We humans are trial and error machines, with no endpoint. We will keep bashing our own heads into the wall until our heads are bloody. Some lessons couldn’t be more apparent. But, my friends, we are all on our own journey. What I learned at 63 might not have even made sense at 54. The same for you. There is no criticism in having difficulties. You didn’t start it and ultimately you are not even the cause of it. Yet you have your own experiences and challenges to navigate. Like it or not, you have to navigate them. Some times you have to change directions. More often you just need to make some adjustments, a little less here, a little more there. Sweeping, whole life changes are probably more rare, despite what the accuser has been feeding your thoughts. Navigation requires a little skill so you would be foolish to go it alone. What works best is literally all around you, amazing you and making your heart beat a little faster. He’s the one behind this magnificent planet. And surprisingly to you perhaps, He doesn’t really require much from you other than a little willingness to learn. How hard it must be for men and women to learn what works best with that ugly picture of a wrathful God complete with a litany of rules and regulations to curb and limit your life. There is a way that works best and it is never very far from love. Have you figured out what works best?

The funny thing about happiness is that folks are so unclear about where it comes from. They seek happiness in stuff or in rule following or in discipline, yet miss the origin of happiness all together. Warm happy feelings are the best part of life and we have been carefully programmed to pursue it. Finding it, though it is never really apart from us, is the quest. We are all on our own journey to find happiness. We are all unique. We all want it. But, in order to find it you have to find the source. Once you find the source you don’t have to spend all your days monkeying around as part of the search. “I was lost but now I’m found sort of thing.” The source of it is very happy to share it with you. He has no requirements other than you believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. In Him we live and move and have our being, as the poets said. As you are making your way on your one journey the grand lesson, the takeaway, the bag full of swag is to discover the One that dreamed this whole thing up. Once you find Him, then and only then, do you begin to understand the journey and how you are supposed to handle it the best. All the pieces fall into place. It finally makes sense. It is the One thing you need from which there are no other things. It is the answer to the riddle. Have you found happiness?

This journey of life is the greatest journey we could be on. It has many pitfalls and dangers. It has difficult challenges, unintended, but overcome-able. It has the highest highs and joy unspeakable. It is life amidst a spectacular creation with people to love and families and friends. The classroom has been heretofore offering you endless opportunites to learn, indeed the most important lessons of life. Your job is simply to learn. Be humble in your estimations. At least accept the possibility that there is more, so much much more. There’s no sense in fretting over the rough patches as you were on a journey and there were things you had to learn. There’s more stuff to learn. Be thankful and grateful for this life and all the wonder contained in it. Be so grateful for your own life. Concern yourself only with living your own life and completing your own journey and then love everyone with you along the way. Life is a journey my friends, so be sure to enjoy your trip.

Just some good thoughts.