The Path Alone

I’ll contribute a piece of my writing from over the years to start the week. I’ve written a few thousand poems and blogs that haven’t been shared yet, so why not. This one is called The Path Alone.

You will need luck, skill, fortitude, and faith to set out on the path alone.

Luck can be amplified with action, but it cannot be controlled fully by any one person.

Skill is a natural phenomenon, but it also obeys inputs in exchange for outputs, growing according to the efforts of the participants trying to hone their expertise in the endeavor at hand.

Fortitude can be built through showing up every day that you’re able. It’s that simple. You have to keep showing up.

Faith can be elevated with work and trust. It is something to be found on the path that you’re on.

The path alone is winding and it will be scary, but aloneness is not loneliness. Being scared doesn’t necessarily mean there is danger ahead. Thinking that you can’t go on doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t.

The path alone will not be lonely because you will encounter many others along the way. But there will also be times when you find yourself around no one else. It will just be you. The only thoughts around will be yours.

Being comfortable with the feeling of being alone with yourself will allow you to continue on. If you are not comfortable with this, you may turn back or abandon the journey you started too early. You may think, “I am just far too alone.”

But you are not alone. You share your pursuit with the stars, the earth, with your thoughts, and with those that you encounter. And when you want to give up, you will soon realize this:

Aloneness is a choice, the opposite of longing and loneliness. It is a required component for the preparation to do what only you can do. The path alone is yours. No one else is meant to share it with you, but eventually, when you arrive to where you’re traveling, others will be there too. You’ll all sit around the fire and take turns saying… “ah yes, I remember being on the path alone.”