Travelogue: Recollections from the Precipice

Standing on the precipice of time at the end of one year and the beginning of another, I can see the final glimmerings 2017’s twilight falling into the darkness behind me while 2018 lays just ahead in the pre-dawn light. In a moment’s pause, I look over my shoulder to cast a few final furtive backward glances into the looking glass before moving on. Who are you? What have you done with the time given you? Where will you go and what will you do with the time remaining?

Considering the nature of things and now living the life I’ve always dreamed of, a few of my tenants come to mind. On the first day of 2018, I thought I would share them with you in the hopes one of this nuggets would be of some benefit to you on your journey.

Live your life in pursuit of experiences, not material things. Cut the extraneous ballast and rid oneself of the nonessentials for a cleaner, purer experience. Gather memories and moments instead of things makes you closer to becoming a complete person. Images and journal entries are gifts you give yourself in the future.

Strive to live a minimalist lifestyle. Focus on carrying out an empowered existence. Severing the bonds lashing you to the machine. Abandon the trappings of a consumer’s reality. Forsake the endless “pursue, obtain, consume” lifestyle. Simplify and reduce distractions. Get to the base elements.

Change is mandatory. Growth is optional. Seek continual introspection. Question your desires and motivations. The unexamined life isn’t a life worth living. Continually reinvent yourself from successes and failures. Keep the good, discard the bad. Change is the only constant.

Meaningful experiences are essential to happiness, fulfillment, and actualization. Seek out opportunities for growth and understanding. You only fail when you quit trying.

Step outside your comfort zone. Get used to being vulnerable and uncomfortable. Praise be to that which makes you hard and causes you to grow. No one ever accomplished anything great in the comfort zone. Take the road less traveled. Seek out a different view. You have to put yourself “out there” to realize your dreams.

So many people dream of the dream, but few go. It is there on the fields of indecision, and personal doubt, so many want to go but will choose to remain, and there perish with dreams unfulfilled.

Keep in mind, overcoming fear is part of the process. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers who have abandoned their dreams.

A shared life is a happier, more abundant life. Bring those who will come with you. But know that to live your dreams, sometimes you have to go it alone.

Belay your worries and sally forth. Clear your mind and venture into the vast empty spaces that beckon your presence. Be the hero of your dreams. Leave in your wake tails of adventure and legacy of continual discovery. Our lives are short. Always be active, forever in motion. It is this constant inertia that nurtures a zest for living. Go on, get out there. Press on, my friend. Press on. There is much to discover.

In the end, as the Roman poet Spirella once said, “there is a satisfaction that’s mighty sweet to take when you reach a destination you never thought you’d make.”

Nothing is standing between you and your dreams but thin air and opportunity. See you in 2018!