(Distinctions are subtleties of language that, when gotten, cause a shift in a belief, behavior, value or attitude.)

 

The words path, journey, purpose, destiny, and fate are sometimes used interchangeably, collapsed into one bucket, one meaning. The intention of this Distinction is not to cement the definition of any word, rather to tease apart two significant pieces of this important life awareness.

On the one hand some would argue that your path is laid down for you; a predestination sort of thing. At the extreme side of this is the notion that you have no say in how your life turns out, it’s all been designed. For these people experiencing the unfoldment of the path is the point.

Others would argue that your future is what you make of it; free will in action. “If it is to be, it’s up to me” was a popular self-help phrase of years past. The extreme side of this view is the universe is seen as a mostly unyielding anvil upon which you must forge the outcomes you desire.

Well what if they’re both correct? What if your path is like a highway, laid out, striped, signed and waiting, and your journey is how you choose to travel that path?

Seeing life this way, you would be free to discover your path, if you want, and also free to exercise your actions to participate in the unfolding outcomes.

 

Coaching Point: Rather than path versus journey, it becomes path and journey. How do you see it?

 

Copyright 2014 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.