When I was younger, I didn’t understand the saying “Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now.” If you were going on a journey, surely you would need something, right? A sleeping bag, money, food? It made no sense to me, in addition to being a double-negative, which I found annoying. But I was young. I could only see the surface of the water.
Then, the day after we buried my father, we stood in his bedroom, going through his things and a couple of my sisters disagreed on the disposition of some item. My sister Doreen looked at me and said, “We’re not doing this when Mom dies. I’m not arguing over anything. Everything I ever needed, my mother already gave me.”
It’s been seven years, but I think back on that statement often. Everything I ever needed, my mother already gave me. It’s the truth, and it applies to so much more than just my mom and life. It might apply to you. Allow me to explain.
We often have everything we need to start, to change, to become better. But we convince (or attempt to convince) ourselves that we need more, or different. If only we had more coaching on this, or if we had those shoes, or those wraps, etc., we could nail that clean. If only we went to this seminar, if only we lost 10 pounds, if only we had more time or more savings … We don’t really need these things to do what we want to do, but we convince ourselves that we need them to start.
Why? Because it’s easier. Because we’re scared. I mean, really, think about it: if you already had everything you ever needed to become who you want to be, and yet you are not? You are still unhappy and struggling — whose fault is it then? Whose fault is it that you are living a less than glorious existence?
It is yours. You are living a less than glorious existence because you have chosen to do so. You have chosen not to change.
Those are not easy words to hear, harder to swallow. But you know what? If you can hear them with the right ears, they are tremendously freeing.
Think about it: you are the reason you are not where you wish to be. You are the reason you are unhappy, or discontented, or just a little restless. And that’s fantastic news. Because that means YOU can change and get where you want to go. If the path to happiness or success lies through another person, that’s rough. You have to change them or overcome them. But if it lies through you? Then you got this. You only have to change you. What a huge fucking relief, right?
I’m not sure, because I don’t know you, but I’m guessing that if you’re a fully functioning adult, you might already have what you need in order to make some of the changes you really want. You don’t need nothing for your journey now. You’re just scared. Commit and start walking your path …
