Paths

I'm not a firm believer in predestination, but rather I believe we choose to take certain paths.  Have you ever seen that financial service commercial with the green path that leads the person to their next step to financial security?  It is similar to that in that we follow things that are immediately in front of us, such as small decisions, in order to be stable in the bigger parts of our life.  By bigger, I mean things like finances, jobs, friendships, relationships,  and emotional well being.  While I feel that our paths are similar to the ones in the commercial, I also feel they differ in a few ways.
First, they never show anyone else's path.  Look at the people around you.  They are all following their own green path. Aren't we lucky to cross paths with each and every person in our lives?  From my students to family to friends to past girlfriends, I want to think that there is some reason all of our paths crossed.  Some purpose behind that.  Truth is, I don't believe that and probably never will.  All we can do is take from those intersections experiences where we have learned to love, learned to trust, learned to laugh, learned to hurt, and learned to heal a sense of accomplishment knowing that we have become a better person in the whole scheme of things.
Second,  it is predestined.  I believe our paths can take us anywhere in the blink of an eye.  Some of you that have probably seen Donnie Darko would understand this blog a little bit more than most.  While our paths are busy paving the way for us to catch up with them, we are experiencing everything life has to offer.  For me right now, that happens to be teaching.  For you, you could find yourself in a big city with a great job.  For some it could be just taking whatever is thrown your way.  Things change from day to day, and I firmly believe it has to do with the paths that we choose to take.
One thing is certain about paths.  There is always a way to turn back.  Sure, you can always live in the past, stick with what you know is safe, but in the end, does it really help you?  I often get pulled into the depths of nostalgia, finding myself thinking of better times where I felt more comfortable or more loved, but in the end that has been my problem.  I've been so stuck in the past I haven't taken the chances to move forward.  All that has changed now.  I'm not looking back anymore.
I guess what all this rambling amounts to is that I believe three things:

• We all choose our own paths.
• Those paths cross with others and when that happens, the learning and growing that can occur is endless.
• Each path allows you to stay where you are with what is familiar.  Don't be a sucker for living with the past. 

With this in mind, where is your path going?   Who has your path brought into your life?  And do you reminisce? Maybe too much? I know I do.  But here is to moving forward.  Here is to blazing that new trail.  Here is to making new paths. Here is to growing.