The Journey of Our Lives

We move through life with a sense of wonder and we really don’t know what is in store for us, because the future is constantly changing. We have heard it many times, tomorrow is not promised and we can make plans for the future, but things can be taken away in an instant.

What I love most about life and the people I’ve gotten to know through the years, is that I get to witness what people do with the gifts that God gave us. I am not overly religious, but I do believe in a higher power and purpose. No one is here by accident, and the beginning, middle, and end of our lives are not written in stone. We have our free will, our internal conscience, and the power to set the course of our destinies. I get inspired easily and am constantly changing because everything to me is a marvel: the sad moments, the happy celebrations, and the quiet peace that comes from my inner solace when I ponder my own destiny.

So how do we find the journey of our lives? How do we know what is good for us and what is good for others? For everyone it’s different, because we do live in a world made up of unique personalities, even if when it comes down to it, we are all somewhat within the boundaries of a “type.”

Some of us are extroverts or introverts, some of us can be judgmental, self-righteous, ego-maniacs, or type “A” personalities. Others of us can be pleasers, goal-oriented, self-sufficient, independent, driven, passive, meek, or humble. Then there are many of us who can be clingy, complainers, procrastinators, aggressive, or angry. But I think that all those traits do complement each other. How else could we all possibly learn from each other and grow, even if sometimes we just can’t get along?

Relationships are a balance of personalities. At our places of employment we have to work with people every day who fit any of those traits, we have to get along, or at least try to get along, with people who normally may not be people we interact with on a regular basis.

Friendships and love relationships are more complex. Those relationships require a lot more time and investment. We know initially if the person is someone we want to get to know or not, we know if there is chemistry or if we found something in each other that just clicked. That initial driver is what prompts a relationship to develop, and the parties involved, given how much time they invest into it, will be the ones who can get to know each other the best.

Our first real relationships are with our parents; they are pretty much responsible for who we will grow up to be. Although it may sound that the whole weight of the world is on a parent’s shoulders, the reality is that as parents, we are responsible for teaching our children how to build future relationships. Our parents, who also have personality traits of their own, will influence how our traits develop, but it isn’t guaranteed. Sometimes, despite a parent’s best efforts, a child can choose a whole different course for his life, whether for good or for bad.

I believe that our parents and our childhood may initially teach us who we could grow up to be. But somewhere along the way, once we can ascertain what the expectations are for our lives, that course could change. We can gain control and decide what we want out of life for ourselves. But nothing is etched in stone; we can all change, stay the same, or peel layers of our own traits to fit the stage of life that we’re in.

Hope is in everything we do. We can allow people to hurt us, to love us, to trust us, to destroy us, but when we figure out the moral to our own stories, we decide how we were affected by those people, how we pick ourselves up, and how we stay encouraged. Only we can decide who we are and if we are the people we want to live with for the rest of our lives.

~A