Life is a journey that we must all travel alone. If we are
fortunate, we will not be alone in life, but we will always travel
alone along the path that is uniquely ours.
It is a labyrinth of trails and tunnels that transverses through
every imaginable plane, but only one of these is right for each of
us. We are never given any tools to navigate this maze except the
one we keep locked up in our soul and pull out on occasions when we
feel lost, alone or confused.
It is easy for these feeling to creep into our consciousness and
stop our feet from moving. Self-doubt is an obstacle that God has
given us to level the playing field and make the course even for
all of us.
It sneaks up on us when we least expect it. When we’re tired and
our feet hurt from walking so far, and our minds are overwhelmed
with the constant buzzing of uncertainty, doubt will strike and
attempt to hobble us, or at the very least, throw us off
course.
When this happens, as it surely will to even the most determined
traveler, it is wise to stop and listen to doubt’s voice. There are
occasions when the words are true and the advice wise. But there
are other times that doubt speaks in a deceitful tongue with the
goal of throwing us off course and sending us out of the way we are
meant to go.
The only way of knowing for sure which voice to listen to is to
stop, take stock in the situation, then pull out the compass that
is inside all of us and verify the course we’re traveling. Even if
we aren’t sure about where we’re going, that compass will not
lie.
It will not point out our destination, it will merely point out
the direction that we should travel to get there. It is up to each
of us to trust in our compass and follow the guidance it gives
us.
It takes a strong amount of courage to blindly walk forward,
especially if we’re being led in a direction away from where it
seems everyone else is headed. But the courage to listen and
believe in what the compass is telling us is what gives us the
strength to follow the path set down in front of us.
It might seem like that route is too difficult and we have
neither the knowledge nor skills to cross it successfully, but
oftentimes, the compass knows things about us that we are blind
to.
The farther down the path we get the louder and more incessant
the voices of doubt become, but it is critical that we not allow
those voices to restrain us from going in the direction we have to
go. Like a shining star leading the way, we need to trust in the
compass that is ours, and not navigate by the light from
others.
With experience in reading our compass, this becomes easier to
do. But experience is something we can not look for, it is merely
something we have to wait for and accept when it finds
us.
In the meantime, all we can do is our best. We can grab hold of
the course we believe in and walk it with all the strength and
courage we have at the time. And know without a doubt that with
each step we take, we are getting closer to where we are meant to
be.
Christopher Cogley is a News-Press staff writer.