We all have insights into various things. These insights usually come from questions being asked, or formulated. Some come from unique places, like the music one listens to.
I have to give you the background... I listen to a lot of different types of music. Some music I listen to is for fun, some is for relaxation (I use a lot of this in the studio), some just because I want to hear good music. Since I played in band in school, I got an appreciation for classical music, but the main thing I listen to is rock and roll. My tastes are very eclectic (and no that doesn’t mean that I go into seizures now and then).
I find my music in a lot of different places. If I like the music that plays during a TV program, I’ll write down the artist’s name and album if it is listed at the end. By going to science fiction conventions, I’ve found that I like filk. (This is fan folk singing. In one program there was a typographical error changing folk to filk, and the name stuck. I’ve actually written filk, and my wife has performed it.) When looking through the internet, I’ve found plenty of places to download music (at a price of course) including filk. I found that when I want a laugh, I look at Tom Smith (www.TomSmithOnline.com) for great comedy filk. But recently, I found an album of rock music that was very poignant, and asked an insightful question. I also like Celtic rock. My favorite group is Tempest (www.tempestmusic.com). (Now that I’ve supported my favorite groups…)
I really don’t know how I found the sight, but after listening to the sample tracks, I downloaded the album ‘Not a Victim’ by Stephanie Pakrul (www.StephTheGeek.com). The album is about leaving and loving, but most importantly growing. In the song ‘Return to Myself’, she talks about moving on, leaving a bad situation, and then asks a very insightful question… Was the journey more important than the goal?
This is something we need to keep asking ourselves constantly as we move from one situation to another. It’s important to have goals. Without goals, we have nothing to shoot for, to hope for. Through my entire (day job) working life, I’ve always been asked ‘Where do you want to be in five years? Ten?’ I never really had an answer. It shows that goal setting was not high on my list, at least in that environment. Then when my goal was to be a full time healer, well, that’s not something you tell a prospective employer, especially if you’re going for a job as a computer programmer.
So, we set goals. Eventually, we meet those goals, that is if we’re serious about them and work to achieve them. So what happens then? Do we sit back and enjoy the achievement? We probably do that for a moment or two. Then we set new goals. So, the question comes back… Is the important part reaching the goal, or making the journey?
When I was told in a trance reading by my teacher that it would take five years to become a healer full time, I was horrified. Five years?! I want to be there now. (I want patience, and I want it now, dammit.) Now, I look back over the past five years and the things that have happened. I look at the friends I’ve made, and the friend’s I’ve lost. I look at the pain I’ve suffered, and heartache I’ve endured. I also look at the joy I’ve experienced and the love I’ve given and received. I look at where I started, and where I’ve come to on my journey (yes, on my journey, I’ve a long way to go yet). I especially look at the growth I’ve had. This journal (as it was pointed out to me) is a record of some of that growth.
To live life, to grow, we feel pain and sorrow, but we also feel joy and happiness. Without the pain, the joy wouldn’t be as great. It’s almost like saying that we need something to compare it to, to truly understand it. If we didn’t know sadness, how could we truly know joy? In all things there must be balance. To have happy, we need to have sad. To have up, we need to have down. But what we must always be seeking, is balance.
The questions we ask have to include are ‘what did we learn?’ and ‘what did we experience? What have I learned in the last five years? Well, I’ve learned to read the words on the stove before turning a burner on to make sure I turn on the right one and don’t heat something I don’t want heated (like the oven mitts). I’ve learned a lot about associating with people. I’ve gone from a very shy person, one who was afraid to mix with people, to one that can talk with, mix with, and teach others comfortably. I’ve learned and experienced many aspects of energy work and healing. I’ve learned that I can’t do everything. I’ve learned that I have limitations. I’ve learned that I can do, or can facilitate, miraculous things as long as I’m allowed. I’ve learned that I can’t go against the ‘grand plan’. I’ve learned that I wasn’t ready five years ago.
But mostly, I’ve learned that while the goals are important as we need something to aim for, the journey is what we make the goals for. It is in the journey that we experience, and we learn. It is the learning that helps us reach our goals, and allows us to step beyond them in preparation for the next set of goals. I have heard from many sources that our time here on earth is simply a training ground for the soul. We’re here to learn and experience.
I guess the bottom line is to say that we need to aim for the goals, but enjoy the journey. Don’t get so tangled up in the problems that you overlook the experience. Some good advice I recently heard dealt with someone who was buried in their work. You may bury yourself into doing whatever you need to do to reach your goals. But now and then you need to stick your head up and look around, because while you have yourself buried away, things are going on all around you. You see, life happens. You need to come up and experience that. Basically, enjoy the journey.
Take care. May light always guide on your path as you make your journey.