Pathwalking 154
This is one of those weeks where composing this is particularly difficult.
There is no single reason why, there is no overriding issue causing me stress or displeasure or any other particular negative emotions. I am just having a hard time finding a topic. Perhaps it is time for a little reflection, then.
I began Pathwalking as part of a New Year’s action. I was determined that rather than make an empty resolution, easily forgotten and broken, I needed to take an action.
So began this long and twisted journey. Every day, for a year, I would challenge myself to write an entry in my blog. This became Pathwalking, and it soon took on a life of its own.
I had created and began to explain in detail my personal philosophy on life, the universe and everything. The notion that we are really the ones in control of our own destiny, our own fate, our own lives proved to be both amazingly simple and sometimes overwhelmingly complicated, too.
Along the way I have uncovered and explored numerous paradoxes, obstacles, challenges and complexities in walking your own Path. But of more import I have found that overall when I have been in control, and I have made my own choices I find joy far more readily.
An opportunity of a sort presented itself to me. I took it. It proved to be less than what I thought it might be. So I was faced with a choice. Return to a place that was robbing me of my joy but making paying my bills easier…or go to a place that would employ me, but earn me less. I knew that place made me happy…so I chose it.
Now I was not only writing about the notion of Pathwalking…I was truly doing it. Here I was, making my own choices, taking control of my own destiny. I was not just accepting what the universe handed me, I was choosing it for myself.
The year came to an end. I had succeeded in my challenge. Another choice before me. While I was continuing Pathwalking, should I continue to write about it? Keep the blog going? I intended to keep acting on it…so it made sense to keep writing this blog.
Obviously I continued, or you would not be reading these words. As I explored what it meant to be a Pathwalker I would continue to choose topics every week to discuss here. Several have been covered more than once, but that is because they are the fundamental keys to success at Pathwalking.
Gratitude. Choosing for yourself. Controlling fear. Choosing which outside influences to listen to and which to ignore. Hope. Joy. Self Empowerment. Love. Passion. All the elements that go into finding, choosing and walking any given path.
Another year passed, and Pathwalking continues. Some topics have gotten multiple weeks of exploration as I dove into their depths. Every week I have found something that relates to Pathwalking in a new way, and shared my insights into it.
The completion of a third year of sharing this journey is near. I am reflecting on that now. Has it been worth it? Am I happy with my life, with my choices? Do I live life, or does life live me?
Some days are better than others. There are going to be complications, frustrations and other issues along the way. But I am still persevering to choose my own path, to live my own life.
This is my life, and it is nobody else’s. Only I can make myself happy, only I truly know where my joy is to be found. I share this journey because I believe that if more of us make these choices for ourselves, we will live better.
Our society is changing too rapidly for most. That is why we are seeing so many examples of sexism, racism, classism, and other reactionary acts. We see more at a far faster speed because the internet, for all its power to connect us, is equally capable of dividing us. Fear is a powerful weapon we are fed on a daily basis, and after a while it can become very overwhelming.
Pathwalking is about choice. I choose to not let that fear, the constant bombardment of bad news and atrocities against people overwhelm my journey. No, I am not ignoring what is happening to the world around me – I can’t do that. But I am not allowing the negativity to control me. That is what they want.
If we live in fear, if we live in a constantly defensive state, we do not have control. Period. Which means if we do not have control, someone else DOES. This is not just about life living you, instead of the other way around…it is about allowing others to make critical choices that you should make for yourself.
Pathwalking is about taking control. Pathwalking, like me and everyone else on this planet is constantly evolving, changing, shifting. No path is perfectly straight, no journey is over-simple or over-complicated, and most of life is lived between the extremes. But I for one would rather choose for myself and make my own mistakes and celebrate my own triumphs.
No grand insights, no overriding topic this week, just a day along the path.
How is the journey along YOUR path today?
This is the one-hundred fifty fourth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share. Thank you for joining me.
The first fifty-two weeks (Year One) of installments of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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