Comments on: Finding Your Own Path

By: Daddo

Daddo — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:30:59 +0000

The 1st voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World included 4 ships: the “Santa Maria”, the “Nina” the “Santa Magdalena”, and the “Pinta”. Of this small fleet of discovery, only the “Santa Magdalena” was required to follow a route that had been charted and sailed by countless navigators for over centuries. As history reports, the “Nina”, “Pinta”, and the “Santa Maria” all arrived in the New World and their brave crews rewarded with the bounty of their trail-blazing expedition. As for the “Santa Magdalena”, the ship that followed the better known route, it simply fell off the edge of the earth.

By: ABF

ABF — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:18:31 +0000

Great post. I find myself envious of other people quite a bit. I always tend to wish I had done it that way, said what they said, moved to that city, never taking the time to look at what I have accomplished or follow my TRUE interests.

I’ve decided to do something about it though. I have not made my New Year’s resolution yet. It usually takes me a while to think of one because I tend to take them pretty seriously. So, by the end of this year, I vow I will do something that I’ve never done before, It will have to be big (not quit my job big, but big) and it will have to benefit my family, my community, and me.

Now I just need to know what the hell I’m gonna do.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:41:12 +0000

Love this post, Elizabeth, and at the same time, I wish I didn’t resonate it with it so much. I have frequently found myself doing what someone else I admire or like is doing, only to come up feel “not happy” and wondering why that didn’t work for me. I think I struggle with really trusting myself, with listening to myself, heck, with being able to even hear an inkling of what I might truly want! Trust is definitely on my path these days…

By: Aidan Donnelley Rowley

Aidan Donnelley Rowley — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:00:32 +0000

I think Thoreau said it well: “Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” Which doesn’t mean it is easy to find that narrow and crooked path. Isn’t our path often the finding of the path itself? I appreciate this post because it reminds me that it is never to late to realize things about ourselves, to question who it is we are, what we want, and where we are going.

Happy New Year!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:14:39 +0000

Elizabeth, this is so wise. I especially appreciate your distinction between the destination and the path to it. In my experience, the most rewarding journeys are those where I end up charting my own course, but because, like you perhaps, I so often try to emulate those I admire, I don’t usually realize that I’ve gone my own way until I get there. Sort of accidental originality, I suppose. I’m not sure if I’m meant to be a conscious trailblazer, but it’s certainly worth thinking about.

By: Gale

Gale — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:14:32 +0000

What a great post. It’s true, isn’t it, that we see someone else’s success and immediately try to copycat our way to similar success. At least for me, what I’ve always envied in these situations is the other person’s ability to find their own path and make it successful. But because I frequently lack the nerve to embrace my own path, I co-op portions of theirs.

I think your goals for the year are great ones. I will work to bear them in mind as I think about my own path this year as well.