It’s all about soul

I dug out my old handwritten journal this morning, and was reading some of the entries.  The earliest entry is from 2002, the most recent from 2013.  I do not journal on a regular basis (as with my blogging, so you can see the consistency!) so there would be several entries over a month, then several months (or up to 4 years!) between entries.

What stood out to me was that there are some things that I thought were important in 2002 that have turned out to be not so critical, and some other things that I wanted to do that I never did, but still sort-of think about doing.  In there are also the thoughts I never shared anywhere else after my cancer diagnosis and during early treatment.  Perhaps most important are the things that I have done that I wanted to do.

Like so many of my friends, I’ve participated in countless seminars on “Live your best life”; “Realize your dreams” etc.  And they all say that you should write down your dream as a start for accomplishing it.  Which I did.  One of my ambitions in 2002 was “Travel more.”  At the time it was a vague desire to see more, and to have a job that allowed travel.  I did that for 2 years – one year I covered all of mainland Canada, with several trips to the Rockies; another year I spent several months commuting between Ottawa, Toronto and the Gaspé region of Quebec.  I liked that.  But my best trips were personal ones, to Jamaica, Europe, island hopping in the Caribbean, and trundling around the Middle East (see other blog entries for photos and details LOL)  I have other trips planned and I’m really looking forward to carrying them out! 

My point is, though,that what I did accomplish didn’t match my vision at the time, but I did manage to do it.  And for some time, I would think “Oh, I’d like to do more travelling,” or “Gee, I wish I could go on that trip.”  Sometimes (as mentioned in the various seminars) deciding to do something, hang the consequences, is the best way to get ahead (OK, so I paraphrase.)  And sometimes it is essential to sit and evaluate what has been accomplished.

Best of all, though, was the realization that many of my friends from 2002 are still friends today.  Plus, there are new ones, and old ones who have returned from that “lost contact” space.  Hugs all around!  Isn’t is lovely when you suddenly realise that there are so many wonderful, smart, talented people in your life? 

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