The "Right" Path

Recently, I've uncovered old writings that have been incubating for many years. I find it amazing that my voice from the past can remind me that I already know the answer to the questions that have been swimming in my mind again lately. This particular writing came to me in a time in my life when the question of being on the "right" path was very strong. I woke up one morning and heard very clearly, as if someone next to me was speaking to me, "there is no right or wrong path... whatever path you choose is the path you need to experience at this time in your life." This statement was so freeing for me. I could, all of a sudden, release the need for perfection and keep walking. This is the message from the past that I wrote over 15 years ago:


When a woman finally catches up with the woman she has spent a lifetime chasing she is shocked when this woman turns to face her and she realizes that she is eye to eye with the woman she has always been.

What is my destiny? What is my soul's purpose in this life? What have I come here to give? What is my heart's desire? These questions spin endlessly in a woman's mind like an enchanted top that never stops. The answers come at different points in each individual's life triggered usually by those shattering events that make you stop mid-stride and look around with compassionate eyes.

The question never seemed to leave her side. Like a faithful dog. Whenever she looked over there it was looking up at her with those pleading eyes. Is this the correct path? Am I fulfilling my true calling? Is this where I should be?

From the time she was a very young girl she knew she was destined to lead a special life. She was so loved and told often that she had an important destiny to fulfill. Unfortunately no one ever told her exactly what this specific mission was and so started her search for the meaning of her life.

During college her days were spent with exciting people and ideas. She knew that she felt most at home in the psychology courses and yet she heard a tiny  voice always asking for what greater purpose did she pursue this. After college she traveled from one job to the next learning many new things and the voice continued to grow louder. Her journeys to new places took her from her familiar rain forest to the dry desert and the questions burned hotter. 

Bead after bead she strung, each an inquiry into her fate. She looked into the eyes of birthing women and with the first cries of their babies she heard, "Is this my true path?" With each loaf of bread she kneaded all of her requests for clarity were created. Every poem she wrote asked the same question, "What is my spirit's aspiration?"

Finally, after many years of hearing this small inquiring voice she suddenly stopped and turned around and there behind her she saw herself, so tiny and unsure yet as persistent as the bothersome mosquito in the middle of the night. It was then that she realized that she had always been the woman who seemed so far ahead. She had been on the right and true path all along because in fact there was never one right route. Each tract she had chosen was in fact the correct course. She had been fulfilling her spirit's calling all along. And at that moment she felt her shoes on her feet and her feet on the path and knew exactly where that trail was leading.