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Can You Tell Me The Way?

Introduction

Your Life as a Journey

Where are you going? I do not mean today or in the near future, I mean during the whole of your life. Have you got in mind some purpose or destination? Do you know why you are here, and if there is any meaning in what you are doing? Many story-tellers and poets have pictured life as a kind of journey. There is a setting out, then a travelling along life's road, and finally a journey's end. Sometimes the road is straight, sometimes it bends and twists, and sometimes it even seems to go round in circles. For some parts of a journey it is possible to take pleasure in all we see around us, whether it is familiar or novel. So at times with life, we can enjoy both its comforts and excitements. At other times the way is a vague, indistinguishable track, and travelling is unpleasant. The landscape may be without variety and very boring. Again we may encounter all kinds of hazards, such as storms, pitfalls or landslides. Things may become frighteningly unfamiliar, we lose our bearings, darkness falls and we are lost. There are corresponding situations in life. Life at times can be boring, and it is as though we are on a treadmill. At other times life's disasters can almost overwhelm us. We experience difficulties and hardships, bereavement and loss, times of blackness and despair. Expectations fail, our endeavours are thwarted, or we make wrong decisions. In life we can lose all sense of direction and feel that we are lost and abandoned.

Sometimes our road is high up, giving clear panoramic views behind and in front, so we can see where we have come from and where we are going. In life, there can be clarity behind us and before us, and we are in control. At other times the road is in a valley, narrow and hemmed in, and we can see nothing beyond where we are at the moment. These phases in life are times of uncertainty, oppression and fear. On a journey and in life we increase our knowledge and understanding of all we see around us. Similarly we respond emotionally to all that we experience.

Many times in our lives the road ahead divides and we have to make a choice. Which way are we to go?

We may wonder later whether there was much choice; we may have been swept along by the crowd, or other people may have made decisions for us. Some areas of our lives are controlled by others, but sometimes important decisions are ours alone.

First of all we have to understand that the individual's journey through life will depend on that person's nature and character. Some people are naturally more forceful and commanding; others more responsive and inclined to follow. It will depend also on the person's abilities and assets, physical, intellectual and material. Some people will determine their life's goal, then strive single-mindedly to achieve it. These people are their own road builders, confident that they can overcome every obstacle. Some reach their goal, although it may be at a cost and often to experience disappointment. Others are more passive and are content to follow along.

So secondly we see that the life of each individual is bound to be influenced by other people. On our journey we meet many people, and share varying lengths of time and depths of relationship with them. It is as though the two or more separate roads of individual lives are running side by side, sometimes for a short, sometimes for a long period of time. It may be that one will dominate, and move the other along with it. More likely the two will influence each other so they will bend first in one direction then in the other. At times there will be strain as the individuals pull in different directions. When the stress becomes too much, the roads may separate again, each going its own way. We see examples in business, friendships and families.

For some, the life of the individual, together with the interaction with the lives of others in the natural, physical world is the sum meaning of existence. People, singly or in groups, will seek to control their own and each others lives. The world around presents hazards, and these have to be avoided. Other individuals and groups will present opposition, and this has to be overcome. For these people life's journey is about self-dependence, satisfying needs, avoiding pitfalls,and contending with and overcoming opposition. One thing is certain; whether the aim is to achieve or just to survive, life is a struggle.