Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting, so . . .
Get on your way!
-- Dr. Seuss
This week I have been thinking about the word, journey. There are so many connotations to this one simple word. I just returned from a quick vacation to Nevada to celebrate my son and his girlfriend's twenty-first birthdays. They both turned twenty-one months ago, but with our busy schedules, summer just seemed like the right time to travel. Our journey was filled with fun, wonderful scenery, good food, and adventure.
This got me to thinking about other places I want to experience. Hence, your task for this week. Make a list of the places you want to go. Simple, right?
I have been blessed to see an abundance of the United States, but there are still many places I want to journey to. Here's my short list to inspire you as you create your own list:
1) Ireland and Wales. I would love to see where Dylan Thomas wrote his poetry and visit the homeland of my ancestors.
2) New Orleans. I'm not a big city girl, but I love historical architecture.
3) Feather Falls Waterfall. I'm always researching hiking trails. This one has caught my attention, because my grandpa lived in Oroville. I haven't been to the area in years.
4) Alamere Falls. A waterfall that flows directly into the ocean? What?
5) Natural Bridges. I love California's gold country! I have to see this place.
This is by no means a comprehensive list. The point is that we should never stop being adventurous.
OK. Back to this word, journey. We all know that I have been on a journey to be healthy for the last couple of years. This journey has morphed into something new for me as I encounter more and more women beginning the hard work of fighting breast cancer. Instead of fighting my fight, I am blessed to help other women find their inner warrior.
My daughter recently turned me onto the book, Women's Bodes, Women's Wisdom by Christiane Northrup. If you have not read this book, go buy it now. It is life changing! Really! This excerpt touched me deeply. "Although I knew that the breasts are often the physical metaphor for giving, receiving, and nurturing, in my rush to nurture everyone else I had left myself out. My body, however, would not let me get away with my neglectful treatment of it and had communicated an important lesson to me: Our body symptoms have meaning beyond the immediate health problem they are warning us about. Carl Jung said that the gods visit us through illness, and I've come to believe that we can benefit emotionally, physically, and spiritually by paying attention to our body's messages." Wow, right?!
Another form of the journey is our spiritual journey. This is different for every one of us, but it is the most important part of this adventure we call life. There can be no happiness, no comfort, no joy, without growth . . . and growth is painful. That growth might mean that we have to sacrifice to go to those places we have dreamed about so that we can fill our spirits with the beauty that this world affords. It might mean that we have to listen to our bodies and take care of our physical selfs. It might mean that we have to fight an illness. It might mean that we have to find our best self. Or, it might mean that we have to find our connection with our higher power.
Here's the whole point of this post. What ever journey you are on, embrace it. You are on this road for a reason. There is a purpose. I promise you this. Learn, grow, become, and never stop conquering those mountains.
Much love, my friends!