Taking Steps

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That's crap. It begins long before you start walking. Where are you? What is motivating you to make that journey? There has to be a reason, other wise you wouldn't walk away.

Some like to think that you are walking toward something... maybe. But with every step, you are leaving something behind. Sometimes it's a case of being too tired to try to keep up when others have left you, so you choose a different direction. Sometimes it's because you realize that you are not where you want to be and you have to find a way out. Sometimes there's just nothing left.

So where do you go? Why do you go there? How do you get there? Something you have to ask yourself before you start walking. Don't you think? If you just forge ahead with out knowing theses answers, how can your destination be any different from what you left behind?

I wish I had the answers. I've spent my life in the darkest corners of this world. I've learned to fight through the adversity, the obstacles, the demons. I've watched people walk out of my life and then wonder why I don't see them as a part of it. I have to actively choose to trust, and it is a fragile thing. Easily broken and rarely mended. I try, but experience has taught me people are cruel beings who rarely see anything beyond their own perspective. There are exceptions to every rule, but having the wisdom to see the exceptions is not always easy.

People try to say "you're not alone" yet I continue to experience the opposite. When it comes right down to it, we are all alone. There are others we can share with if we choose and if they prove worthy, but we still have to decide our own fates. We are born, we live, and in the end no one makes the final journey with us. From there we walk alone.


The journey does not begin with a single step, but with the desire for something different, the courage to begin, and the strength to keep walking once you start. Perhaps it ends with the wisdom of your travels and the support of those who you meet along the way. Perhaps not. I'll let you know when I get there.