the purpose of a journey...

as i am on the verge of setting off on my journey i think about the many journeys that each and everyone of us make throughout our lives - physical journeys, spiritual journeys, emotional journeys.

jour·ney /ˈdʒɜrni/ [jur-nee]

–noun
1. a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip: a six-day journey across the desert.
2. a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling: a desert journey.
3. a period of travel: a week's journey.
4. passage or progress from one stage to another: the journey to success.

–verb (used without object)
5. to make a journey; travel.

without these journeys, we will never truly know who we are, because it is only when we face the fear inside - all the things that hold us back - that we can move on in the great journey of life.

i am so often saddened, especially here in Ireland, by people that are held back by their fears, who find themselves in a situation that makes them deeply unhappy, but yet are so stuck and blinded by their own fears that they do nothing. they sit and wallow in the misery that is their life and rather than being active, sailors of their own ship, take the passive route and blame others for what they cannot do. i for one, refuse to take a back seat in the great journey of life...i have promised myself to always live my life standing at the helm, wind flapping in my hair, the great open horizon ahead with so many possibilities. we are only held back by what we perceive to be our own limitations, but we are capable of anything. we only have to put our minds to it.

i am setting off on a journey that probably encompasses all of the above - a physical, emotional and spiritual journey. i look forward to all it will bring - to the new people that will come into my life, to the wonders i will learn, the joys i will experience, the challenges i will face. i gather it all up and hold on tight to it and take the first step into the unknown...and yes, i feel the fear but i do it anyway because i will not be defined by the things that i didn't do, but by the things i did.