Pathwalking 162
How do I know if I am on the right path?
I am actually pondering this question myself. I am feeling uncertain, and I am finding myself having a hard time with being in the here-and-now as I need to be.
Let me share with you my own, personal path as I am walking it now.
Today is February 4, 2015. I began the notion of Pathwalking three years ago in January 2012. When I started this concept I was working a dull job with annoying hours, and life was living me. I went with the flow, I went along with it…but I was not really in control of my life or my destiny.
As the year wore on an opportunity for new employment presented itself. I took it, and it turned out to be something I utterly did not want to do. So I moved on, and returned to an old job that has been my fallback for years. A job I liked rather a lot, but that simply never paid me sufficiently.
It occurred to me, however, that I was happy at this job. I found that I was happy I had made the choices I made, and realized that I was now not just developing the idea of Pathwalking, but truly walking my own path.
It was quite the revelation to be practicing what I was “preaching,” so-to-speak. I was not just developing, exploring and sharing the notion of taking control of my own life and choosing my own destiny, I was living it. This was incredibly empowering, and made this more than just an abstract, but a true practice.
Over the next year I started to take other steps. I became more focused on writing, and worked more diligently on completing one of my novels. I was coping with a less-than-stellar financial situation, yet still happy with the Path I was on. I decided that the first year of Pathwalking should be made available in book form, and I self-published it with some additional materials I’d previously composed for the blog.
As I got into my third year of Pathwalking I started to find more obstacles on my path and doubts. But at the same time I began to open up new avenues and ideas, and I chose to read and write more refularly. As I observed frequent negative messages from my friends on various social media every Monday without fail, I became determined to address this. Thus, just over a year ago, Positivity was born.
So now I was blogging twice a week. I have deadline-driven posts every Monday and Wednesday. I decided along the way that I was tired of the submission/rejection cycle in regards to my first completed Fantasy novel. So I took a bold step and went ahead and self-published. Sales of Seeker in the first couple of months were pretty decent, though not a runaway hit. Still, for my second foray into self-publishing, I cannot complain.
However, the job I was previously so enamored of was beginning to please me less. I was dealing with situations that were out of my control that were negatively effecting me, and experiencing a general feeling of malaise. However, there was an unexpected change in my status at this job, and I have a new beginning where I previously saw an ending.
So now we are in the here-and-now. I find that while I am somewhat less unhappy with my job, I am still having more bad days than good. Granted, there are other outside influences at work on me that are impacting my happiness, and certain stressors that cannot be avoided. I just need to cope with them better.
My current path beyond my employment involves a career opportunity that could not have come without the job I have. I am nervous about this because I am being forced out of certain comfort zones, but I still feel it has potential to change my life for the better. I am striving to embrace this, and let go of the things that I am not comfortable with. In addition, I am working on editing Finder, the second novel in The Source Chronicles, and intend to get it to a professional editor before Spring. I am currently planning to publish Finder in November.
So, back to my initial question. How do I know if I am on the right path? I am working on feeling my way through my current choices, and determining if the issues before me are mere obstacles and speed bumps, or if in fact I need to choose another path. If I find that these feelings are borne of stress induced by a cold and snowy winter, certain family matters, or most likely a combination of these things – I will have more clarity to see if it’s the path itself, or just the usual twists, turns and redirections one encounters on a given path.
What matters more than “am I on the right path?” is this: Am I choosing my path? If I am only going along with the flow once again, then I am not doing the things I can to take control of my destiny, and thus to live the life I want to live.
Pathwalking is not a static act. It is ever-changing, ever evolving. I am ever-changing, ever-evolving. But I am still Pathwalking, and I still believe that by sharing this idea I will not only make my corner of the world a better place…maybe I can help you make your corner of the world better, too.
Thank you for being a part of my path.
Are you choosing your own path?
This is the one-hundred sixty-second 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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