Are You Traveling or on a Journey?

“Bill, you asked me if I was just traveling or if I was on a journey. Aren’t they the same thing?”

            “Not at all, A. J.  Not at all.”

            “And the difference would be...”

            “When people are just travelin, they start out with the notion they’re gonna end up someplace by a certain time. They get together what they think they’ll need and head out.  They stop for fuel if they’re drivin. Maybe they stop for food or maybe they pack their own so’s to limit the stops. If a detour comes up on the highway or there’s a traffic jam, they get upset. They don’t like anythin to slow ‘em up. They’re on a schedule.

            “A person on a journey prepares the basics as well, but doesn’t have a schedule…not as such. That person is willin, if not enthusiastic, about enjoyin every second. Might create detours just to see what’s there. Maybe pulls over to watch a sunrise or sunset. Might get out in a rain shower to feel the cool drops on their skin…taste the rain. That kind of person will stop along the way just to talk to people, have a new experience. You can tell a lot about how a person moves through life by how they travel.”

[Excerpt from “I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say”]

Are you just traveling through life or are you on a journey? The difference is there are people who just “do” life…the job, the bills, the routines…basically just traveling from one point or moment to the next without full appreciation of the simple fact that we have moments. And there are those who live. They see every moment as an opportunity to expand their understanding, opportunities, and who they are.

One of the quickest ways to live more fully is to agree to be fully present with what you’re doing. That means having your heart, mind, emotions, and your ability to manage them for the most productive outcome, awake and in tune.

We have a tendency to think about other things while we do other things. Have you ever wished you’d been paying attention when something happened and you missed it? We do this all the time. We multi-task our brains, our emotions, and our lives instead of linking moments from one to the next like precious pearls on a strong thread.

Listening to others and our true selves with more than our ears opens our life experience into an adventure, a journey. Being anywhere other than where we are and who we’re with is a form of just passing through, like towns we pass on a highway with barely a glimpse or curiosity.

Are you traveling or are you on a journey?