Life is different for each of us. You are at your own stage of understanding why you’re here, and how to use the gifts you’ve been given. It is the trek of a lifetime, and there is no overnight formula for success. It’s personal and fluctuates as you grow and learn how to nurture your body, mind, and soul.
Nothing remains stagnant. There’s a physical and spiritual evolution that is unfolding when you become fully aware of reality and step into the unknown.
The true human journey is one of love, forgiveness, compassion, imagination, courage, and a deep connection to the intelligence of nature.
Greek philosopher, Plotinus, reminds us, “The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”
Through all of the knowing and unknowing, visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity and insanity of it all — you are here. While you may go to bed dreaming of paradise or wake up from a nightmare where you visited hell, you must always remember that every experience is an opportunity to understand your state of mind. For many of us who are busy living our lives or making a living, trekking into the unknown may mean being still — a place we’ve been unconsciously avoiding because we fear what we might discover.
Being yourself is a gift. When you choose to invest in yourself, you can also begin to transform your mental models by accepting that what seemed to work in the past may not be the healthiest way to engage in the future. You may have been taught not to burn bridges, but life teaches us that some bridges take us nowhere and that it might be more beneficial to abandon them altogether.
Our world is calling us to create individual and collective visions, aspirations, and realities that we have within us. We are being guided into the unknown to forge healthy paths, accept each other, respect varying perspectives — and above all else, to care deeply about ourselves, each other, and the planet.
When we accept that no one really knows what is best for us, things will break open and fall apart. Our culture has claimed success can only be achieved when referring to decaying principles and obsolete ideologies, such as relying on authorities for answers instead of looking inward and asking ourselves what feels healthy for us.
When we don’t comply with the status quo and societal norms, we’re often shamed, blamed, and ridiculed. Isn’t it interesting that we were taught loyalty to others before ourselves?
Why have so many of us placed our faith, trust, and loyalty in the hands of politicians, business leaders, brands, influencers, philanthropists, musicians, movie stars, and celebrities? How could anyone, outside of ourselves, possibly know what’s best for us? And why do we believe they have our answers?
It’s healthy to shed limiting beliefs and the toxic people in our lives who are holding us back. It’s healthy to abandon bridges that go nowhere and clear a path to trek into the unknown. There’s no manual where we’re headed, because we don’t need one to get to where we’re going. Curiosity, courage, and the mindset of an adventurer is all we’ll need to take us there.
Excerpt from the second book in the F*ck the Bucket List trilogy (January 2021) for the Adventurer: Trekking into the Unknown
