Road trips are a good metaphor for change in our lives, because with road trips you have directions, road signs, and speed bumps. In life we have the inner guidance of thoughts and emotions. Sometimes we ignore them, and guess what? We get lost.
No matter how often you travel, or wherever you go, when you take a journey, you most likely won’t see the destination until you actually arrive. So what do you do when you want to go on a vacation to the beach, but you live in Kansas? Do you drive halfway and turn around because you don’t see the beach? Or do you keep on driving and trust that Mapquest will lead you to paradise?
Our thoughts are like road signs. Imagine taking a turn every time you see a road sign. Doing that would lead you nowhere, certainly not to your beach vacation get away. Instead, you would only follow the signs that get you to your destination, right? With thought, you follow a similar practice. If you want to feel good about your life, then you pay attention to the thoughts that say “wow, I love my life”. You may notice the thoughts that are self defeating, but notice them then let them go. Remember that you have a choice to let go of thoughts that no longer serve you.
If our thoughts are like road signs, then our emotions are like speed bumps and traffic cops. Traffic cops direct us to slow down, stop or move ahead. Emotions do the same thing. If the traffic cop wants us to stop and we aren’t slowing down, he blows his whistle. Emotions do the same thing. Have you ever tried to speed through a speed bump? Come on, I know you have. Didn’t feel so nice, huh?
Some of us prefer ignoring our emotions. Maybe if we ignore them, they will go away. The reality is that we all experience uncomfortable, even painful emotions. The trick to letting your emotions guide you is to remain mindful, or aware of your emotions, while simultaneously remaining connected, or mindful of your outer experiences. Outerexperiences are sensations that we can taste, touch, smell, see and hear. If we nonjudgmentally acknowledge our emotions, and remain mindful of our senses at the same time, then our emotions will guide us to our destination.
So if you have somewhere you’d like to go: Perhaps contentment? Maybe peace? Or even Joy?; then wake up. You have everything that you need to take that trip. And if you hit a little speed bump along the way, don’t let that prevent you from continuing on. After all, I’ve always heard that the real beauty is in the journey.
Post contributed by Mary How. Mary is the owner of Angelfish Creations, LLC and editor of the Flying Fish Blog.
