TAKING THE JOURNEY

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”   Gospel of Thomas

The novel is Rebirth by Kamal Ravikant. Amit is on a journey he doesn’t really want to be on but he’s made a promise to his dying father to release his ashes into the Ganges River in his homeland of India.

From there Amit begins his journey through India, to the Himalayas, then to an accidental journey to the Camino de Santiago. He wants to forget his pain instead of working through to understand it.

All of us are on a journey through this life. If we’re willing to take risks, life can take us in new directions. But, if we allow fear to be our guide, we will wither like a flower in the heat of a noonday sun. Our souls need the nourishment of adventure, of life lived, being unafraid of what awaits around the bend.

For some of us, me in particular, we are late in our lives learning this lesson. Someone once asked me if my mother was a fearful person. Until that moment I had never considered where some of my own fears might have come from. With pen and paper, I sat down to discover what my fears were and how they were and are holding me back.

From my own memory bank, I dredged up the remnants of conversations with my mother and discovered the fears, her fears, I had been taking on. From this novel, Rebirth, I realized that what I had learned as a child, the fear, is hard to let go of as an adult. After I put it down on paper I saw it for what it was. I have allowed fear to hold me back from experiencing life, from the joys of trying, failing and then getting back up and going after whatever it is again.

From study groups I’ve been involved with over the years I learned that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. I would be lying if I didn’t admit even after knowing the truth, there are times when I’ve allowed fears back in. Most of the time I’m able to realize them for what they are: not real. I now choose not to listen to them or to allow them to slow me down from the pursuit of my goals.   There is no shame in having fears. Look at them. Study them and then write down what it is about them that you are allowing to control your life.

If we aren’t willing to take risks in this life, our journey will be so boring and lifeless even when it means we are hurt or betrayed by others. Everyone we meet, whether for a reason, a season or a lifetime, has an impact on us. Revel in that connection. Recognize what you learned from that experience then continue the journey.   Most experiences can be good, even the most painful.

When your journey causes you to travel into unexpected and painful areas of life, rather than ask “Why me, why now?” Ask the question, “Okay, where does this take me and what’s next?” The answers and directions you get may surprise you and mostly in a good way.

There are few who go through life’s journey that don’t experience joy, pain, sorrow and the loss of something or someone.   How we choose to move on after that experience will define what we bring forth from within. Choose the positive, even in pain. Choose the journey in spite of not knowing where it will take you.

From reading the novel, I learned, metaphorically speaking, there are three parts to the el Camino. The first part from Roncesvalles at the borders of France and Spain to Burgos is “life”. From Burgos to Leo`n is “death,” and the final leg of the journey from Leo`n to Santiago is “rebirth”.   While I doubt I’ll ever walk the Camino de Santiago, my own journey in life is forever changed and made more beautiful by what I’m experiencing now.

Let what is within you come forth and live. Say Yes to life!

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– Barbara Tubbs Hill

Writer, counselor, perennial student and seeker of truth and spirit is an apt description for Barbara. Currently, Barbara is working on her first novel with two more planned for the future. Her first book, “Let’s Talk, What You Don’t Know About Credit Can Hurt You,” was written after fifteen years in a career than spanned collections, credit and mortgage lending. Barbara is glad to have been a part of getting the Indian Mound in Florence listed on the Alabama State Historical Register and soon the National Historical Registry. She lives in Florence AL with her husband Johnnie and two precious rescue dogs; Snookies and Daisy.