Can The Path You’re Taking Ever Be the Same Path Again?
Are we taking the same path we might have taken before?
There are nearly 8 billion people on this planet. Each and every one of us have our own paths to choose from in this life. At a minimum, that means there are 8 billion paths.
Given that we all have more than one path to choose from, that number is probably exponentially higher. There are more likely billions upon billions, if not trillions of paths to choose from.
Some people will start on a given path and then leave it for one reason or another. Maybe they leave by choice – maybe not.
But what happens if they return to that path? Is it the same path they might have taken before?
Short answer – no. But that answer offers zero explanation.
What’s more, there are a multitude of reasons why the path you’re taking will never be the same again – even if the fundamentals are similar.
Let’s explore why this is.
The only universal constant
There is only 1 constant in the whole Universe – and that is change.
Sometimes change happens so slowly, it doesn’t feel like anything happens at all. Other times, change is instantaneous. Good or bad, something changes and its impact is immediate.
Change can be personal and impersonal – sometimes simultaneously. But change is constant, unstoppable, and inevitable.
Why? The simplest answer is that on the grandest imaginable scales, the universe is expanding. Everything in the universe, from the largest galaxy to the tiniest subatomic particles, are drawn into that expansion.
Hence, change is always happening. We can’t see air flowing around us – unless pollen, dust, leaves, or the like are blowing around. But the invisible particles and molecules and all their constituent parts are in motion, too. Thus, the air you breathe at this moment changes from the air you breathe in the next.
Sure, they’re likely so closely similar that there’s no measurable, noticeable difference between them. But they have changed as part of the constancy of change.
How does this impact your path? Easy. Let’s say that 10 years ago, I started on a specific path toward a goal as a writer. Maybe I reached it, perhaps I abandoned it, or maybe I was forced off it for some reason out of my control.
Even if I have the same goal and start along that path again – it’s changed. Because during the 10 years that have passed, I’ve changed, circumstances have changed, and lots of other changes have happened.
Thus, even if my path is similar to one I’ve taken before, it’s not the same.
Change is the primary reason why the path is not and won’t be the same. But other factors might tie into it or be separate from change.
Similar path but not the same path
Related to change, there will be other alterations to a given, similar path.
Even if I succeeded on that path before – it’s not guaranteed that I will succeed again.
That’s because there are lots of factors related to change that will impact this similar path. My growth and life experiences, the people I associate with today that I didn’t before, a change of environment or location in my life, and similar factors can and will make this path different from one that might have been the same.
That can be deeply frustrating. But it’s also super empowering. That, too, is associated with change.
How I desired my life to look when I was 20 isn’t how I desired it to look when I was 30. Now, at 50, how I desire my life to look is very different from 20, 30, 40, and even nearer age 50.
That’s not just an agent of change. Desire shifts. How we’d like our lives to look and the things that turn us on and light us up will be different along the way.
True, this is part of change. But desire and drive can be constants in their own way. Change might not impact them.
For example, I desired to be a published author in my teens. I still hold that desire today.
Arguably, I’ve been on the path I’m on now before. But recognizing that it’s not the same path is empowering.
Why? Because that recognition gives me control.
Mindfulness of any path matters the most
The reason why acknowledging that the path we’re taking might be similar – but not the same – is to avoid pitfalls, obstacles, and detours that might surprise us.
Have you ever driven down the same road daily – and then either hit utterly unexpected traffic, an accident, a detour, a tree in the road, or the like? That path is similar to how it’s always been – but not the same. An adjustment or adaptation is necessary.
Even if the path you’re taking now is similar to one of the past – it’s not the same. Mindfulness of this makes you consciously aware and more capable of handling the unexpected.
Pathwalking is not as simple as choosing a clear open road and traversing it. I mean, maybe it can be once in a while. But overall, it’s not.
When you take a new but similar path to one you’ve taken before, recognizing and acknowledging that it’s not the same will make it easier to travel. That’s a product of mindfulness.
It’s also part of the necessary recognition that sometimes the path is of equal or even greater importance than the goal we intend to reach. Which is the last reason why the path might be similar but it’s not the same.
Have you ever walked down a road, and suddenly noticed a brightly colored house? Like, it might always have been that color, but you just didn’t notice it. Or perhaps it was painted recently. Either way – the path, though similar, is never the same again.
Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone
New is likely to be at least somewhat uncomfortable.
People love to be comfortable. Our comfort zones are called comfort zones because they represent where we are content. They’re familiar. And leaving them – even with excitement – can be uncomfortable.
A known path, the notion of the same path, is comfortable. Recognizing and acknowledging that a similar path is not the same can help us overcome our fear of leaving our comfort zones. Even those built in the known paths of the past.
Change is a constant. Desire might be the same, but it will shift, too. You might be on a similar path to one you’ve taken before. But’s not and can’t be the same.
That’s empowering because who we are now is never who we were before. Elements might be unchanged – but it’s only who we are, here and now, that matters.
And it’s only in the present that we can mindfully choose any given path to take whatsoever.
You’re worthy and deserving of whatever path calls to you, new or similar to another.
Can the path we ever take be the same again? No. But that’s an incredible, empowering truth.
Can you see how today’s path you are walking might be similar – but is never the same as any previous path – and how that empowers you?
This is the five-hundred and sixty-seventh exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – using mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out Amazon for my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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