Alternative Paths

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

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I'm a big fan of personality assessments.  One of my favorite assessments is called StrengthsFinder.  Out of 34 themes of talent, this tool selects your top 5 strengths.  My test results showed my number talent to be Adaptability.  The description of this talent is, "They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time."  I illustrate that aspect of me because not only am I open to new opportunities, I actively seek them out.  

Much of my life, up to this point, has been a process of opportunities presenting themselves and me taking full advantage.  I often feel as if I've been placed somewhere rather than choosing to go; my heart and mind working in concert.  To repurpose a little bit of Christian Scripture, my heart picks the path and my mind devises the way.  Seriously, what fun is a journey that moves in a straight line?  

Today I rediscovered the Art of Doing Nothing.