Paths

Imagine life as a path you are walking on. You begin to notice that the path becomes rocky, and the terrain unruly. Perhaps it begins suddenly, or maybe it is a progressive change in the road condition. Either way, you begin to scrape yourself on the rocks. Ouch! It’s painful. As you continue walking, every few miles, you begin to notice in your peripheral vision, tangent roads that appear to lead somewhere else. At this point, there are a few options:
(1). You disregard the new paths, thinking to yourself that they may appear like a good escape, but that this path you are currently on started out fine too, and then became rough. You convince yourself that these other paths are just disasters waiting to happen. You stay on the road you’re on, falling and hurting yourself, over and over again.
LESSON: Out of fear of the unknown, we convince ourselves that change is bad. We can become so caught up in our pessimistic habits to recognize that by making different decisions, we can change our lives for the better.
(2). You are too focused on trying to make your way through the rough terrain, fearful of falling or hurting yourself, that your gaze is focused down at your feet as you trudge along, scared, angry, and depressed. You are so focused on the horrible conditions of the road you are on, that you slowly begin to forget that the tangent roads existed at all. After awhile, they begin to appear less and less frequently. Eventually, you never see them at all, and the memory of them fades to a dim flicker in the back of your cluttered mind.
LESSON: We are too focused on our past and current pain and suffering, that we miss the opportunities to change the direction of our lives.
(3). At first, you disregard the new paths, and continue walking. But as you give them more attention, they seem to appear more and more frequently. At first every few miles, then every half mile. Eventually, you stop to turn your head. Now you are looking directly at this new road. This is a choice point. The new road looks clear, smooth and bright. You can leave this path that you’ve been on for what seems like an eternity, for a new and brighter direction. As you are suddenly presented with this new option, you are overwhelmed by fear. Although the new, bright road is the obvious better choice, you’ve developed a bizarre attachment to this rough terrain. Even though it has hurt you and caused you much pain, it is what has become familiar to you. Out of addiction and habit, you could give up this perfect opportunity to escape the suffering and choose to stick with what you know, even though it has hurt you.
LESSON: You recognize the chance to change the course of your life, but fear of change overwhelms you. So many people get stuck in their pain out of fear of leaving what is familiar.
(4). Like the above scenario, the more you pay attention to the tangent paths, the more they seem to appear. Again, you stop and are now staring directly at the new path. It is brighter, smooth, and clear. You are filled with a sense of promise and excitement for change. You embrace this new opportunity to let go of the old path that no longer serves you. You are not sure where this new path will lead you. But now you know that if things get hard again, you always have the power of choice to change your path, as long as you take the blinders off to look up and around you. This means no longer giving your pain and suffering power by focusing all your attention on it, but instead always keeping your mind and eyes open to paths that will enhance your growth. With this in mind, you take the first step toward your new life, filled with excitement, courage, and confidence.
LESSON: Picking a new path is not immediately the end of suffering. It is the beginning of a new direction. It may still take work and effort, but once you practice your ability to make choices and to shift your attention to where you want to go, you'll begin to notice that more and more opportunities arise for you to get where you want to go.

We often think that, “if only I had the opportunity for a better life”, or “if only I had the chance to start over”, that would be the answer to all our problems. But we are often offered many chances for renewal and change, because change really is the only constant.

We must recognize that we are always presented with opportunities for change-- to change the direction of our lives for the better. But in order to embrace a more positive future, we must first make room for a new perspective by releasing what no longer serves us.