Journey
Today I am grateful for safe travels and time with my husband Darcy's family. I am also grateful for working heat in our house.
JOURNEY is the second "j" word I am choosing to blog about. On our recent journey to see family, I was a back seat passenger and that is not typical. I appreciated the relaxing time to read, rest, let my eyes wander around the scenery out the window. I appreciated Darcy doing the driving. We were in close quarters, including our dog Oliver joining us in the back seat.
We journeyed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an important destination on my life's journey. Darcy and I were married there and lived there for the first two years of our marriage. Prior to that it had been a shopping destination a handful of times with friends or a city we saw from I-90 as we headed west to the Black Hills. Now when we journey back there to see family, I see pleasant memories of that chapter in my life's journey too.
I have been fortunate to take many actual journeys via plane and automobile to many parts of this country. I have been blessed to start and complete twelve journeys of 26.2 miles in twelve different cities and locations. On foot makes one's perspective on a journey much different.
And then there are journeys that aren't about miles. Journeys of recovery and self-acceptance. Journeys through cancer treatment and surgeries. Journeys on the road of gratitude practice. These journeys have taken me to destinations of greater spiritual understanding and growth, and they are journeys that have made all the difference. They continue to make all the difference.
One of my favorite quotes about journeys is this one from Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
As I read about the quote, it said that a more accurate translation is this one: "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."
That is a subtle but meanngful difference. I appreciate the one step at a time, one day at a time, one blog post at a time idea. But I also appreciate the emphasis on action, on my responsibility to get moving on my own journey of life.
Where will my feet and heart take me on my journey today? Where will yours take you?
Begin. Proceed. We will find out in each moment.
JOURNEY is the second "j" word I am choosing to blog about. On our recent journey to see family, I was a back seat passenger and that is not typical. I appreciated the relaxing time to read, rest, let my eyes wander around the scenery out the window. I appreciated Darcy doing the driving. We were in close quarters, including our dog Oliver joining us in the back seat.
We journeyed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an important destination on my life's journey. Darcy and I were married there and lived there for the first two years of our marriage. Prior to that it had been a shopping destination a handful of times with friends or a city we saw from I-90 as we headed west to the Black Hills. Now when we journey back there to see family, I see pleasant memories of that chapter in my life's journey too.
I have been fortunate to take many actual journeys via plane and automobile to many parts of this country. I have been blessed to start and complete twelve journeys of 26.2 miles in twelve different cities and locations. On foot makes one's perspective on a journey much different.
And then there are journeys that aren't about miles. Journeys of recovery and self-acceptance. Journeys through cancer treatment and surgeries. Journeys on the road of gratitude practice. These journeys have taken me to destinations of greater spiritual understanding and growth, and they are journeys that have made all the difference. They continue to make all the difference.
One of my favorite quotes about journeys is this one from Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
As I read about the quote, it said that a more accurate translation is this one: "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."
That is a subtle but meanngful difference. I appreciate the one step at a time, one day at a time, one blog post at a time idea. But I also appreciate the emphasis on action, on my responsibility to get moving on my own journey of life.
Where will my feet and heart take me on my journey today? Where will yours take you?
Begin. Proceed. We will find out in each moment.
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