5. Not all who are lost wish to be found and not all who do not wish to be found are lost.
I’ve been on both sides of this before. There were times that I found myself lost on roads that I may or may not have intended to take, yet embraced my displacement, hungering for the experience and the adventure and knowing that to be found, would again mean reinsertion into society and the laws by which it operates. I’ve seen others like this on the road; they wander aimlessly and slow, unchained by the surrounding world and immersed in the moment, seeking nothing but to exist without placing their existence on map. Then, there were times that I knew exactly where I was on a map or in life, yet I traveled so deep or dug a hole so snug that escape from this world and the people in it, was exactly what I wanted. Whether hiding from something or seeking something personal, I’ve travelled intentionally out of the grasp of society to be alone with myself. Whether lost or not, there are times in life when we seek simply to not be found. This, overall, is a good trait that human beings poses, should we allow it in our lives in balance. There is a lot to be said with time spent with ourselves, detached from everyday existence, but we cannot exist forever in our solitary and nomadic state… which brings me to my next lessoned learned….
4. Happiness is only real when shared.
Chris McCandless writes this in his journal as his dying words, laying in a cot and starving to death in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Unbound by the ball and chain of society, intellectually and philosophically adept, he was driven to live life by the labor of his own hands and feet and on the natural worlds terms, not society’s. He sought peace and fulfillment in himself and life as he faced the road and wilderness alone… this wasn’t just a calling for him, it was a moral responsibility. So, interesting that this man, after spending his adult life seeking peace in solitude, would realize in his imminent death that all those experiences and moments he had found, were about to die with him… and that the only indelible way to experience happiness in this life, was to share it with others. It breaks my heart that the peace he sought from such a pure place not only eluded him as he took his last breaths, but revealed its true nature to him and it was too late. Also interesting, that we know very little of Chris’ story from his own perspective, yet his story was pieced together by the handful of people in the world that his roads had happened to intersect with. The happiness he imparted upon them and the experiences he shared with them, invariably became the bricks that would build his legend. I find some solace in his story, knowing that the legacy he left was an extremely powerful message for the world and that his experience has helped me and others to realize this truth before it was too late for us. I had spent years of my life diving into the road and/or the wilderness seeking solitude that would bring me peace only to come back out with the same unfulfilled feeling. I eventually learned that solitude cannot be and is not the answer… it is a tool to use wisely on our paths through life and can be of unquestionable benefit to us if we see its true nature and value and not as our endgame. To truly find peace in our hearts, we must experience our lives and happiness, unselfishly, with the other human beings we share this universe with.
3. Happiness can be found in any place or situation, but you must find it internally. Seeking happiness in external things is a falsehood.
Which means that, though we should share our happiness and experiences with others, we won’t find it in them. We won’t find our happiness in any tangible, external thing in the universe. No job, nor car, no girlfriend or boyfriend, no sunset or sunrise, no nothing, other than ourselves, will bring us happiness. These things can engender the emotion, but are not the heart of it. Happiness can be found, conversely, in baking hot deserts, in war-zones, under bridges, in jail cells or….anywhere! Because the state of the external world doesn’t and shouldn’t define our response to it. The only power we have in this universe is in the way we react to the reactive world around us. Happiness is a state of being, not a thing. It’s an acceptance of the world for what it is and the internal peace of existing in it in a way that allows for ever expanding personal growth and reaping, separate from the details of life. Happiness, is the manifestation of a positive, humble, honest and fearless outlook on life and our response to it and that can be found anywhere on earth, in any situation. As William Ernest Henley eloquently penned in his poem Invictus, you are the masters of your fate, and the captains of your souls.
2. A complete soul depends on balance and awareness of ones mind, body, emotions and spirituality. One or more of these in dissaray causes a broken soul.
But what does it mean to be the captain of our souls? What is, in fact, our soul? I believe that the soul is the culmination of our physical bodies, our minds, our emotions and our spiritual connection with the universe. Just as the helmsman balances his ship on rough seas, so should we keep our souls balanced as we travel through life. I’ve learned that when one or more of these four aspects of ourselves is neglected or overindulged in, our soul loses its balance and we once again feel lost and unstable and ultimately suffer the agonizing feeling of emptiness. To be the captain of your soul means, not only to be aware of these parts of you at all times, but to have the recognition, courage and strength to make adjustments when needed. Keeping your soul balanced, will keep your moral compass aligned, your path in life clear and your response to the world around you healthy.
1. No matter how right you believe your moral compass to be, you’re only one mis-step away from losing yourself.
And what about being the masters of our fate? What does that mean? It means we have to own the choices we make in life and the effects that come from them. We need to be aware that no matter how moral we believe ourselves to be or how balanced we perceive our souls, there are a million things in this universe that can knock us off our path or change it entirely and, ultimately, it is we ourselves that take the first unfortunate step off the path. We are human beings, and by nature, we will always at times fall off the path, but our power over this is in our awareness of it, our quick recognition and then self realignment. Our fate will be decided in how we act in these instances… and if we don’t own our status as the masters of our fate, we will slip unbalanced into anger, blame and suffering. But, if we remain diligent captains of our souls and masters of our fate, always assessing, realigning, and reinventing, our lives will blossom on whatever path we are on and peace and happiness in our lives will be easily within our grasp.
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