Do what you love. Love what you do.

As the Life is Good people say, Do what you love. Love what you do.  I can’t tell you how many times that saying has grounded me and made me adjust my goals.   Being happy and content (to me) is the most fundamental piece of the puzzle of life.   But we can really only find out what makes us truly happy by taking it step by simple step. Let the journey take you where you are meant to go.

We’ve all heard stories of “Divine Intervention”, fate and miracles.   Someone stops to tie their shoe just as a piece of metal flies over them, right where their head would have been.  Someone takes a different route or has to go back to get something and misses a horrible accident.  They can’t get a seat and are saved from an airplane crash.  There are thousands of these stories.

Each day we make choices that dictate how we react in situations.  As I stopped to let a cat cross the road (as they always do on our road), I thought “what if stopping for that cat saved me from an accident?”  Random? Yes, because that’s who I am.  I love animals and I love to see the kittens and cats that breed like wildfire on the corner of our road.  They are adorable! It makes me slow down every time I go around the sharp corner, and more than once it has saved me from being hit head-on by a neighbor going around in my lane.    It wouldn’t really be fate that made me stop but my love of cats.  But, the question can be…did fate guide my choices leading up to that life-saving moment?

Looking back, I can see the natural progression that has brought me to where I am.  A class in Shakespeare sends me spiraling into 6 years of college.  A class in winter ecology (to fill a science credit) brings me to my back yard and hiking.  A seat on the historical society, coupled with that new-found interest in ecology, brings me to pursue a Master of Education in Heritage Studies.  That pursuit brings me into contact with Questing (historical treasure hunts in local areas) where I create my own quest.  I hike more. I write more.  I become more in touch with my surroundings, with the woods, with my body.  I take up yoga. I become peaceful and grounded. I take better care of my body. I start to trail run… you get the picture.  One simple step leads to a whole world waiting.   Doors open, dreams are created, desires realized and most of all, your actions and reactions change.

When I get frustrated with my weight loss (or lack of it) despite all I do, I have to remind myself there is more happening than what I can see.  Muscles are building, repairing, building some more.  My lungs are gaining capacity, my heart beats stronger, my mind is more focused.  I’m less stressed, I sleep better at night and I feel a touch more confident.  While I don’t always see it, each day is a step towards something; a mountain, a race, a longer life.  Perhaps, just perhaps, this is part of my journey that will someday change my life.  Maybe my future doesn’t lie in historical fiction but in nature writing. Maybe I’m the next Annie Dillard 🙂  Maybe my future doesn’t lie in writing at all but in teaching others how to love the outdoors.  Maybe I’m gathering the knowledge and experience to be a guide someday.  Maybe what I write will someday change a person’s life.    Who am I to know?  Does it matter?