The Journey Without A Finish Line

Not so fast, my friend. We’ve to slow down our conclusions, and the confidence as well. All that mastering is ideal. And I’m pursuing that like many of us here. But the reality of life is the wind in the sail of life. When it goes limp leaving a ship lolling on the dull sea, there’s nothing but waiting out on the dead watery patch. Same with a storm—the ship’s fate pawned to the wind.

Stress can threaten our rational mind to collapse. Is it at all possible to avoid it? Yes, even with our imperfections. If the journey toward the Ikigai, the perfect balance, is consistent like a defensive driver’s calmness in thick traffic and slowing down at the curves, we will be able to prevent a crash.

Journeys are never static. Neither is the speed. A driver’s right foot does its dance on the gas pedal, slowing and speeding as needed.  Our speed varies and depending on the other cars we do our prudent, defensive driving.

A patient defensive driver is mindful of the moves and what the others are doing. The driver’s goal is fixed on the greater good with compassion, empathy, and the sheer will to reach the destination safely and on time.

This we can do when anchored to our harmonious Ikigai. And it becomes an urgent-yet-beautiful journey without panic. The hindrances that come as a traffic accident or the rough driver next to us—we can steer clear without fear. If we’re persistent with our life goals, an obstacle is not going to affect us big time for long. The turtle that beat the hare is proof enough.

Quite like the gurgling water in a brook—its urgency is not necessarily connected to speed. It’s the focus on the purpose. Intense speed is not always in our hands. We rather have to be patient when reality slows us down. The intensity never gets diluted by the apparent slowness.

For water, the innate call to flow never stops. Even when a sheer rock wall stops it to give it a shape of a lake. Every moment, each drop in the lake is looking for a gap or that overflow point because a call from the ocean is embedded in it. Though it might seem still, its earning to flow is deep.

When it again begins to flow, it meets the big rocks on the way. No complaint, no whine. It just goes around. And while finding its way around it also erodes the very rocks that stopped it. Even the gentlest of water does it.  Only because the vast ocean beckons. And thereafter the clouds reach to—to travel back to the mountains as rain, snow, sleet, and hail.

What is your vast ocean? Listen to its call and begin your earning to journey toward it. The path will show up. Never mind the curves, humps, and dumps. Never mind the long, endless path toward your irresistible calling. Even this trip without the finish line in sight is powered with joy. Enjoy your watery flow.