Does Everyone Have A True Path?

Here it is Monday morning and I am checking my Monday Morning Barometer. In this post, Andrea Ballard describes how she uses Monday mornings as her true test to know when she is straying away from her true path.

I loved the post, tweeted the post and received this @reply: 

If you notice the date and time, this was the 2nd afternoon of my week long vacation. I had woken up that morning, before anyone else (surprise!), went for a run, grabbed some coffee and, with my red Moleskine in hand, sat in the morning South Dakota sun at the campground. There are any number of things I could have done that morning, yet I chose not to do any thing other than to enjoy the view. I carried that with me throughout the day and when I checked in and saw this reply, I started to think in a restful, vacation-y kind of way:

Does everyone have a true path? How do you find it? How do you know when you are on it? How many people are looking their true path right between the eyes but don't see the forest for the trees?

I didn't come up with any answers to those questions (I was on vacation, remember) but one thing did cross my mind. Take a few moments to picture yourself in your relaxing place, with time on your hands, and no commitments to fulfill. What do you choose to do?

We all have a true path and maybe, just maybe, the things we choose to do - when we don't have to do anything at all - hold the keys to discovering our true path. 

Comments

[Brian Meeks]

I love my moleskin and thinking about things much like this. I don't know if I am on my true path, but my gut tells me I am. I have felt very much at ease with everything for a long time. The days have passed, as if, they seemed to know that the winds were carrying me where they should.

I am going to think about this post...probably for a good while...and maybe I will arrive at an answer. When I do, I will write it in my moleskin.

[Cyra DuQuella]

This post resonates with me. Whenever I visit my woods I have a mental list of things I would like accomplish but find myself just sitting and absorbing the quiet and green and doing a lot of internal thinking and planning and dreaming. Sometimes our busy lives don't allow for this very important contemplation.

[Andrea Ballard]

"Tthe things we choose to do - when we don't have to do anything at all - hold the keys to discovering our true path." Lisa, so true! Right now it is late in the evening. My daughter and husband have gone to bed. I am caught up on the dishes, laundry, all the other "have to" stuff...and what am I doing? Reading HR blogs! Enjoying people talking about their career path and the wondering that goes along with it. Which is not to say I will always be in HR...but I will always be working with people engaged in growth, self-discovery, and learning.

[Lisa Rosendahl]

@Brian, aren't Moleskines wonderful?! Being at ease with everything is a great sign and I am sure someone would say that the winds know, let them do their thing and don't get in their way.

@Cyra, contemplation is so important and something I don't give myself enough time to do but I am going to be more deliberate in making the time. Your woods sound wonderful!

@Andrea, I was on vacation with a skitterish internect connection and what did I miss most - engaging with friends on line and reading/editing Women of HR posts! There is a common theme developing for me here that transcends HR - sort of like your Dear Abby :)