Dave's Not Here

Have you ever gone a really long distance only to discover what you already had in your own back yard?  Well that is what a pilgrimage is like.  You see, we all have everything we need, every scrap of wisdom, every healthy cell when we are born.  If we just put ourselves in the right environment we will know how to thrive.  Then, why is it we need to wander?  Why do we have an urge to get out and see what is in the world?  Why do we not just sit where we are and enjoy life. 

There is a built in ‘forgetter’ that we all have.  For some reason we discover something and have to relearn it over and over again until it sticks.  To me it is what makes life interesting… and frustrating at times.  Some say that the reason we need to get reminded is that we haven’t really learned the lesson.  I think it is a bit more simple than that, and at the same time way more complex.

But the thing that brings it all back and gives us a forum to learn and grow is our movement through the world.  It can be as simple as our daily commute, it can be a walk around the block, but the most fruitful movement is towards a destination that has meaning.  It puts us in a frame of mind to be curious and to reflect on what life is meaning to us in that very moment. 

I like to say it takes on the average 10,000 hours to get 10,000 hours of experience.  And I have heard it said that to truly gain mastery in an area you have to practice it for 10,000 hours.   In other words, I think we need to learn a lesson 10,000 times before we really learn it.  We have to see all the ins and the outs and we have to bring it into every one of the trillion or so cells that make up our being.  It takes the world around us to learn these lessons too.  We can’t do it in a vacuum. 

So that is why I do things like walk the Camino and it is why you do whatever you do to navigate thru life and make a better world for yourself.  I do it to learn and learn again so I can get to that magic 10,000 mark so I can move onto the next lesson.  We are all blessed with endless lessons in life.  If we don’t learn it in this life we will be given the privilege to learn it in the next.  That is what keeps us all going and will for the rest of time.  Enjoy your lessons today, they are the spices that create a flavorful life.