Picture yourself on the crest of a hill. You can see all around you the panorama of streams and pastures, a small village and the mountains. The view is lush and very pastoral. It seems that you can see every tree, every bush and flower, every little blade of grass. Then your vision changes and you see your life, your journey thus far. Realizing that part of your view is somewhat hazy and you can’t see all the detail, what is your reaction? Are you still delighted at what you see?
While ‘delighted’ may not describe your reaction, you might just as well make peace with it since it happened. It is an ‘is’. If you don’t like what you see, do you know why? It doesn’t matter as much where you’ve been but it’s critical that you know. Most important are the lessons you’ve learned along your way. Where you are right now is influenced by the then and will impact on the future and your awareness is quite critical. You can always, as in always, change your direction as long as you know where you’ve been and know where you want to go.
As you contemplate your view, the immediate question of ‘what next’ has to permeate your thinking. While you can enjoy where you are for a moment, you also realize that you can’t stay, that it is only temporary. Which path do you take down the hill? What have you set as your next destination? And those are only the obvious questions… but the point is – what is going to be your ‘next’? Where do you want to be? While speed may not be necessary, intentionality should be.
Your journey is yours to determine… within limits. If your responsibilities include others, then their needs and wants have to be part of your decision making. It isn’t as much an issue of compromise or ignoring your hopes and dreams as it is to be aware and to communicate why you are doing what you’re doing as well as what the ‘next’ will be. Your journey should never be by default – it should always reflect who and what you are.
…but, what do you think?
