How And Where? - Grasshopper

The question most of us ask at one point is, “How did I get here?” It’s a question that needs to be asked but not dwelled on. The more important question is, “Where am I going?”

We all have a background - a life story. If you trace back your steps, you’ll find out how you got here. It’s a great lesson in history but there is no direction offered on how to go forward.

 

To me, life is a trip out and a trip back. The trip out is akin to addition: namely adding roles and beliefs and things to who you are. The trip back is subtraction, removing what has been unnecessarily weighing you down.

 

This lighter you has a leg up on others still caught up in addition. It’s easier to move when you’re not carrying so much luggage. Now you can move in any direction you want and “try on” where you’ve gone to see if it fits. If not, you pack an overnight bag and move on again. The lingering question will no longer be “Where am I going?” It will be more of a revelation that you can go anywhere.

 

At this stage, it no longer matters how you got here; It’s more about having a sense of wherever I go, I can stay or go. Subtraction offers more options.

 

Note: Going doesn’t require you to geographically move; it just takes the realization that your additions are holding you in place. Once you peel off the labels you’ve added one-by-one, the only answer to the question “Where am I going?” is to follow the sun.

 

All the best,

John