Not withstanding a spiritual base, we are beings of forethought and of memory. We can mentally transport back in time or forward in thought to places of fondness or profundity. But it is impossible for us to physically experience anything outside of our immediate surroundings. Because of that, our only true reality is found in the present moment.
The good news is that we all have the ability to make that particular moment mean something – minute to minute, if we choose. And this opens the floodgates to a sea of possibilities. We can find ourselves at any place on earth – barring few exceptions. And if we realize that it is only ourselves that stand in the way of making our current moment a positive and enjoyable one, we will be much more likely to take the reins and be the change that we wish to see in the world.
While our governments and our communities have regulations, this life has no rules governing our movement or our creativity. We are free to live it as we choose; to go where we wish; to make the memories that we choose to make; to create or to appreciate the creations of others; to learn or to teach; to explore or settle down. We can do this with partners or all alone. This journey can last decades or just moments. It’s completely up to us.
This may sound like an intimidating responsibility. But once we accept the idea that we all have this responsibility and, more importantly, that we have always had it, it becomes much less threatening. And it’s not always applicable to the heavy decisions that our lives encounter. But it’s nevertheless ubiquitous and it constantly influences which path we choose to take.
Many times I’ve wished that someone could make the hard choices in my life for me. It would be so much nicer to just let go of the responsibility. And I am sure I share this sentiment with many others. But we, alone, make the choices along the path we take. And therefore we are the ones who benefit from the grand and distinctive results that these choices place in our lives. And in that, we are not only made better from our time facing these challenges, we also become much more intimately aware of our placement along the path that our lives reveal to us.
Knowing, appreciating and embracing this will do more to free us up for the positive changes in our lives than any other conscious action we can make. And never are we more aware of these opportunities than during our time moving about the world, experiencing new cultures, taking in strange, new surroundings and exploring each moment along this path with veracity and enthusiasm.
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Like this photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.
My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.
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