A good friend of mine died recently, and I was confused about how I handled it. It was a shock for sure, as his passing was unexpected. But then, because he wasn’t part of my day-to-day life, the feeling wore off quickly. I felt guilty that I was getting on with my life so fast. Death affects us in different ways and depends on a variety of factors, but it will always be a part of our lives. We all have to experience it; like anything else, it’s healthy to do it intentionally.
So many people try to find stability in their lives and keep things going as they have been. They like to have a familiar routine, the same friends, and the same activities. There’s nothing wrong with this. Long-lasting relationships, routines, and traditions give people a sense of belonging, a feeling of home, and comfort. But it’s also essential to have the unfamiliar in your life. I know that doing different things and interacting with new people can provide a healthy jolt to the old psyche. I recently left a very long-term job and now work full-time on Blocks of Life. This experience has led me down a wonderful path filled with exploration and discovery. It literally fuels my dreams, which are constantly filled with new and different things because I’m always doing new and different things.
As we move through our days, we may live active, productive, and even meaningful lives. But something may still be missing. It may be hard to put our fingers on it. One possible reason for this is the failure to be intentional about fundamental aspects of our lives—mind, body, and spirit—the three pillars of life. Most of us engage with these pillars to some degree: we exercise, we challenge ourselves mentally, or we have healthy spiritual lives. But how many of us consistently engage with all three pillars intentionally and regularly? When we do, we’ll find that our lives are enhanced—in ways that we may not even realize.
Throughout our lives, we have the opportunity to encounter an enormous variety of activities and experiences. Some may seem out of reach—either because we feel we’re not talented enough or because it would be too hard to become proficient. Maybe we feel we wouldn’t enjoy it or that it’s out of our comfort zone. But the fact is, these reasons are just excuses. We won’t really know if something is possible unless we try.Trying something doesn’t mean making a long-term commitment. We can try activities in the short term and see if we have an aptitude for it or if we enjoy it. On the other hand, we shouldn’t stop doing something without giving it a chance—it might grow on us or we might enjoy it once we get some experience and get even a little bit better.Ultimately, the more things we try, the more likely it will be that we will find our passion.
Life is a journey. It contains many twists and turns and can be fraught with challenges, risks, and frustrations. It’s daunting to think about life as one big journey, but that’s okay because it is also made up of a multitude of mini-journeys. Like any significant endeavor, it’s helpful to break it up into manageable pieces. In focusing on the mini-journeys, you may also find nuances you otherwise might not have seen. To reverse the old saying, you might miss the trees for the forest. But changing your mindset and embracing your mini-journeys takes intentionality and open-mindedness. It’s easy to engage in business as usual and lose sight of the opportunities along your path. You have to stop, consider, and build an awareness of how you might proceed with your journey and what mini-journeys that will entail.