This Journey? It Never Ends.
When you hear the phrase "Enjoy the journey," does it roll through your head like the home decorating fad of "Live laugh love"? Yea, me too. My eyes roll sometimes, too. However, there is some weight in enjoying the journey, but you have to look beyond the simplicity and overuse of it.
Enjoying the journey sounds pretty and magical, with rest stops along the way to look at the world's largest ball of yarn (or, in spiritual terms, look at the way you appreciate the simplest things, like a deer crossing your path).
For me, the journey brought me to a room full of mirrors - where reflections of past versions of myself would present themselves. It was confusing and painful at times. It was really hard to truly see those versions of myself, but it was necessary to move forward. In this part of my journey, I refer to it as raw, cut open, and exposed. It was not pretty nor magical,, but rather painful, a necessary part of healing and moving on. Can you still enjoy the journey when it gets hard? Absolutely. It is necessary. Maybe "Be content in the journey" is a better intention than enjoying it.
It was in these moments I would go to Andrew and share my experiences with the raw, exposed pain, and he would encourage me to stay in it. No deep thoughts or promises of enlightenment; he offered no exit ramp, just the simple wisdom to keep working through it. I often found this teaching style of his to be incredibly frustrating - Just give me the answer to get through this faster!*
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, I encourage you to stay on it. Even when it gets hard....especially when it gets hard.
The paths we fear the most are the ones we must travel.
As a person who thrives in checklists and goal-setting, one of the major transformations I went through was the understanding that this journey doesn't have a finish line to cross. Stay on your path with no expectations.
- Jen
*If you have a teacher, guru, or mentor in your spiritual life, I encourage you to find the intentions in their guidance. There are no shortcuts, no invoices to pay, and certainly no promises or expectations that they hold the answers. You have everything you need; a true teacher just helps you uncover it.
