CHOOSING YOUR OWN PATH

CHOOSING YOUR OWN PATH

“When you see a path already laid out in front of you step by step, you should know that it is not your path. You make your own path with every step you take; that’s why it’s your own path.”      

When Joseph Campbell, the respected American author, lecturer and a leading expert in mythology wrote these words he was received with much skepticism for his ideas. But he was right. For the truth is that, irrespective of circumstances, you can never, ever rely on anyone else’s path to lead you to where you want to be. Life is not cut that way. In fact, when one reflects on it, life is always about many pathways, each one going in a different direction and each provided specifically for a single individual. Since no two individuals ever have journeys which are exactly the same, it follows that any attempt for anyone to follow a path other than his own will be unsuccessful.

We all have to choose our own paths in life and we must all follow that path in the direction it leads us. We have the ability to change or modify the direction to suit our own personal needs and inclinations, but we cannot mould it to suit anyone else’s direction. Nor for that matter, can we expect others to mould themselves to suit our desires.

This indeed is the fundamental principle of life; one that we must all follow if we truly want to live the life expected of us. Anything else will eventually lead us into a jungle of confusion and discontent. In fact a great deal of unnecessary disappointment can be avoided if it is understood that while it is not possible to follow another person without risking consequences, it is possible to learn from another, while still cutting one’s own path.

 Life can be seen as made up of a whole variety of paths running in endless directions and crossing one another in bewildering combinations and situations. Each one of these paths belongs to a single individual and reflects that person’s own special direction. But as they cross and intersect one another, they are exposed to a variety of influences and contacts. Some are content to choose easy paths, avoid contacts and expend as little effort as they need, and then live out their lives in blissful apathy. Others choose the more unrealistic and unsuitable paths and spend their lives in constant confusion and struggle without achieving meaningful reward. And there are those who search for the opportunities offered, and challenge themselves to follow their dreams by building their own paths. The choices exercised will result ultimately in the path chosen and will inevitably lead on to the individual fulfilling his purpose in life.

As the quotation suggests each one of us must choose our path and develop it step by step. Each moment lived, each thought shared, each decision taken, each experience that occurs in one’s life are like stepping stones placed one next to the other as they build their individual pathway. We are the sum total of everything that has happened to us, and as we travel on the road of life we keep adding to this.

Life itself is the direct result of this step-by-step action. There can be no rigid, preconceived plan, nor is it possible to replicate another’s path or to be certain of the right way from the wrong way without first personally trying and then deciding for oneself. The completeness of the path, like life itself, will appear only as our canvas of life unfolds, and we have traveled some distance on the road.

Albert Einstein, the famous German-born American theoretical physicist and in his own special way a philosopher on life and living, placed this aspect in its true context when he advised:

“If you follow the crowd, you will go no further than the crowd. But if you walk alone, and find your own way, you will likely find yourself in places no one has ever been before.”

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