Pathwalking 158
With the choice of any new path, there will be risk.
Most of us spend at least some, often really much, of our time in the familiar. We find a comfort zone, and we do what we can to stay within it. It is a safe place to occupy, and it feels like a good fit.
The problem is, things change. This is probably the most unavoidable fact in the entire universe. Everything will change. It may be unbelievably slow change, but nevertheless change will happen. You cannot evade it, avoid it, resist it nor misdirect it forever.
One of the ideas behind Pathwalking is that it can serve as a mechanism to direct and control change. In choosing our own paths and our own directions, we take control of our lives, and walk paths of our own choosing. As such, we often make change.
But that does not mean we do not get drop out of gear into neutral from time to time. Everybody likes when they can just go with the flow, there is less effort, and less struggle, and once in a while it is truly pleasant to just let life live you. Sometimes it is even very much the nature of your current chosen path to just let it flow, and to ride the current along.
Sometimes, though, we find ourselves too long in that current. We have drifted too far out or too far downstream, and this is not in fact where we intended to be. So now we have to return to the struggle, and it just seems that much harder than it was before.
Keep in mind that change is a constant. It happens, sometimes visibly, sometimes far beyond our controls. Life moves forward, and forward motion is change.
When you find that you might have allowed yourself to become too complacent and too long out of control of your choices and your path, the first thing to do is to take stock. Where am I? How did I get here? Is this where I want to be? If no, what do I need to do to get to where I want?
But the most important thing here to do is NOT to begin self-recrimination. Damn. I totally lost control! There I go messing everything up and failing again! How did I land here, where I tried not to? How did I do this to myself yet again?
Avoid letting such thought patterns take root. First, because they do you no good in making change. Berating yourself for mistakes or for foolish choices or no choices actually holds you in the place you do not want to be. Second, because they are statements of negativity. There is nothing quite like negative energy to prevent any and all growth and change.
Positive energy is more powerful than negative energy. Positive energy creates strength and builds where negative energy saps strength and destroys. That said, it is much wiser to accept that you are not where you want to be and begin to focus on where you want to go. Putting the energy and focus on the how and why of what you don’t want will keep you in that place.
Leaving our comfort zone, in especial when we realize it no longer suits us, is challenging at best. Here you are in this familiar and pleasant place, and now it has to be left behind. It is hard not to think, What if I never feel like that again?
I find that when I am on a path I have chosen and I am walking it as I would desire I am in my true comfort zone. There is something particularly comforting in being not only on a given path, but on that path because I put myself there. Sure, the comfort of the familiar and routine can be nice, but after a while it becomes dull, hum-drum, and unsatisfactory.
Again, that is not to say that SOME down-time along any given path is not a good thing. It absolutely is. The key to this, like so very many things in life, is moderation. Choose Pathwalking time, but also allow some time to let your mind, your body and your spirit get some rest so that you may continue to choose your path as changes occur. Let yourself be prepared to choose what changes you need and want, so that you might be making choices that guide you along your path.
Yes, there is risk when you choose a new path. That is pretty much an unavoidable fact. But life is not meant to be just a day-by-day unchanging event. We are creators, and we have made amazing things of our world. Imagine what else we can create when we focus more energy on a path that might make us content and bring us satisfaction. Imagine what it would feel like to be choosing something that makes you feel good and gives you a great sense of accomplishment.
Yes, there are going to be risks, because that is part of any change. When you are choosing what changes are being made you are taking control, and that will always create a greater reward as you inevitably move forward.
Are you on your path, or in need of taking a risk and making change?
This is the one-hundred fifty eighth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal 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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