Take the Next Step in Life

One of the biggest challenges we face as people is to remember that life is a journey. While each one of us has our own special strengths and purposes, our time on this earth is not sequentially mapped out. Every choice, or step along the way, is an opportunity to find fulfillment, especially when we are true to ourselves.

Where’s the easy road?
We tend to get so wrapped up and stressed out that we forget what we’re doing, which can complicate navigating where we are going. Life is demanding, and more often than not, a little bit uncertain. Sometimes, the trials and tribulations of experience are exactly what we need to start us thinking about the path we are on in this life. Just because things may be confusing or challenging now, it doesn’t mean that road ahead is going to unfold the same way. Many of us choose to take the hard roads – it’s like we believe the greater the struggle, the greater the victory. While there may be some truth in that, we often times make things more complicated than they have to be.

Your life path
It is said that each one of us has a purpose, something we are in this world to do. We tend to think that we are here to achieve that one great thing, whatever it may be. This concept can often cloud our judgment, making us feel that somehow we are doing something wrong, heading in the wrong direction, or simply going nowhere at all. Unlike a road trip, life isn’t a singular destination pinpointed on a map, it is more of a collection of thoughts, feelings, desires and experiences. Because of this, we have more than one purpose per life, and the freedom and ability to change the path that we are on.

In order to understand your path in life, it is often essential to understand where you are now, and how it is you got here. By looking back with an open and unbiased mind, you are likely to see how your life has evolved. By reflecting over days gone by, we can refresh our minds and spirits of the things that worked for us, as well as those things that didn’t work out quite as well.

The ultimate life…
Sometimes, we get to do what we want to, other times we simply do what we have to, but all of it is somehow connected to the choices we have made. That’s the beauty and the heartache of having free will – nobody’s destiny is left strictly to fate.

Your life path is very unique to you. While others may have common goals or desires, their path to ultimate fulfillment may take them down very different roads from your own. Take the time to ask yourself what it is you really want out of life, and then think of how you can make it so. Because many of us are much more familiar with the list of things we don’t want, a simple place to start would be creating a plan to become free from those things. Sometimes a little reverse-engineering can lead to great discovery. In order to find your true path in life, you must learn or accept what is true to you – even if that truth is something grand and scary.

Some paths are smooth, others have more than a few bumps. Life, and its twisting paths, causes us to grow and change. Some days, the only way to know where we are going is to pause and acknowledge how far we’ve come.

The world is your oyster
Whether you know where you are going, or have just recently figured out where you have been, there is uncharted territory for you left to explore. Don’t fear what comes next, because fear can keep you still. Chase your dreams, plan to fulfill your desires, follow your heart and honor the person you have become. The next step in your life is what you’ve decided it will be. Remember, life may be but a journey, but you are in the driver’s seat!

When you follow where your spirit leads, you’ll never be lead astray. So face each day with an open heart and open mind, and work as hard as you play!