We often think we know just what we want to do in life, the job we want to have, the business we want to create, the future we want to live. We dream, we plan, we pray. And for most of us, that dream has its origin in our vision or the imagination of how life could be. But the truth is life does not always start by giving us the intended result. Life starts by giving us experience. Experience which looks sometimes like a delay. A detour. A diversion. And often, we find that we don't find ourselves in the answer but in the process — in the moving, living, learning and the shaping of ourselves of each step along the way.
I certainly never think about myself that a moment in Turkey would make any significance to my life in a way that matters. I did not plan this trip to have boat ride and view of the Bosphorus river, naturally monumental and nestled between two continents, between Europe and Asia, with me looking over the water with all it's quietness. But here it is, in this stillness, a moment that spoke more to me than I could ever put into words. I learned a lesson: sometimes the destination is not the answer. Perhaps the journey is.
When I first travelled to the UK, there was no way of knowing how far that trip would take me across other nations. There was no way of knowing how I would have other experiences that would cause me to stop, reflect, and understand myself better. And that I was not just moving through a series of destinations but following on a journey and walking into an ongoing response to who I am becoming — not just what I am doing. This is what the journey teaches you — to not only pay attention to the outcomes, but to always pay attention to the journey.
Because often it will be in those memories created by unexpected experiences, at unexpected stops, in places you never imagined, that you will find the balance and peace you have been searching for quietly inside yourself. We spend so much time in the first place, trying to figure out where life is taking us. What if we are not supposed to care too much about the destination, but about the journey?
What if the growth, the clarity, the moments of stillness and yes, even the discomfort are all part of the answer that came our way? So now, when I look at this photo, I do not see a tourist. I see a person in a moment who took the path there was to take, listening to the call of the journey and who continues to work towards growth. Ultimately, the journey is not delay or diversion to the goal. Sometimes, the journey is the goal. It is simply the response you didn't realise you needed, as you find the way forward one step at time.