Running Full Speed into the Fog

One step at a time!

We’ve all heard the sayings … “The journey is more important then the destination”, and “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

At first glance, these may seem at odds with each other, but if you consider your goal in life to be less like “I own a mansion and a yacht”, and more about living with a purpose, then they’re really 2 sides of the same coin.

This isn’t to say that we should travel life’s road without a destination. After all, we need goals to focus our efforts, to motivate us. But if we concentrate too much on the goal itself, we miss out on all the wonderful things along the way.

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But what’s fog got to do with it?

Fog presents an interesting environment. You can see your immediate surroundings fairly well, but it’s hard to see what’s further up ahead. Little things, like noises and lights, can help guide you along your path, but you’ve got to be careful about what you pay attention to – some may pull you aside.

Sure, once in a while you may get a glimpse of what’s in the distance, but for the most part, you have to focus on what you can see – the space in front of you and the ground below your feet. But as long as you’ve got clear terrain, you can see enough to make sure your foot is going to land on solid ground.

It can definitely be frightening, but all you have to work on is your next step. You can deal with the ones after that when you get to them.

How I came to give up control

When I was young, I had the future all planned out. I’d find a great woman, get a good education, work at a nice job, get married, raise children, and have a wonderful life. That seems to be a lifetime ago, and true enough to form; I’ve been working that plan.

But somewhere along the line, I lost myself.

And it wasn’t until I decided that I was going to go where I was called, not where I thought it looked better, that I started finding myself.

I made a firm commitment to follow my passions – all of them. I was going to enjoy the trip, and worry less about the destination. The control I thought I had was an illusion.

It’s your life … live it!

Everything outside of “you” can be changed – possibly on a whim, perhaps in an instant, probably in spite of your intentions, and certainly every day. No matter how much control you think you have over everything in your life, the only thing you can really control is “you”.

The actions you have chosen to take (or not take) put you right here, and right now.

If you’re unhappy with your current situation, you have the ability to take different actions so that tomorrow will not be a repeat of today.

Sure, I’ll grant that there may be difficulties – but history is full of examples of people that overcame extreme difficulties. Why should your life be any different?

The only thing I can say for certain is that it is yours to live.

Faith in the unknown is like that

I realized that my future is much less clear than I ever imagine it to be. There are too many things outside of my control – I could be struck down in some accident tomorrow, or find a fortune next week.

So I set out to live my life as if I were running headlong into the fog, confident only in the step that I am taking. Knowing that in the grand scheme of things this is the perfect time and place for me. Trusting that as long as I am living in harmony with peace, love, hope, faith and happiness, tomorrow will take care of itself. And in spite of what I can or can’t see, that “looks” pretty good to me.