My last thought before falling asleep was that we are all a lot more capable of conquering obstacles and fears than we think. ― Rinker Buck, The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
As we made our 6,000-mile journey across the USA this summer, we tried to stay geographically close to the pioneering path of the Oregon Trail. Many times throughout our journey, we lost the trail. What we realized after making it to the west coast is that the trail was more of a framework that a set path.
Many pioneers migrated west for different reasons and therefore the trail took them in new directions. The strength of their vision drove them across unimaginable obstacles with success. As it turns out, the Oregon Trail was a source of great inspiration for us, not because it was a well-marked path but because it provided a visionary framework for our journey.
Our framework never changed throughout our trip, even though our path took us places we never planned to venture. That framework is why we started to sell the daily Livits on Livology. Many readers want to know how we are doing what we are doing. When we give specifics, the dialog never seems to flow. Why? Because the how is our path and everyone has to discover their own avenue.
What never changes for us is the framework we use to make decisions no matter where our path leads. That framework is the practice of making deliberate choices every day about how we spend the time we are given. We know if we can commit to living a deliberate life each day then we will far exceed the wildest dreams we can conjure for ourselves and our children.
How do we know? The daily Livits give us a way each day to enter into a place of gratitude and joy and that practice has taken us across continents with ease. The only time we struggle to get where we are going is when we abandon our framework to focus on the finish line. Those are the times we lose our way. There is no way to get lost when the focus is on appreciation for what is, and excitement for what is becoming. It is a foolproof map.
You can never lose your framework or make a wrong turn. There is no way to get lost but there is also no way to finish. Perhaps that is why we often look for well-marked trails or paths. Minimizing risk by walking only where others have walked before is certainly one approach. The problem is when we cross the finish line, we begin looking immediately for the next well-marked path. Blazing one’s own path, as we see time and time again and through the pioneering stories we heard along the Oregon Trail, means that with each step we are profoundly changed by the freedom to choose.
Eventually, we stop looking for trail markers because although they may tell us how to get somewhere, what matters more is why. When we are clear about WHY we are on a journey versus where we are going, new paths reveal themselves with abundance, adventure, and horizons that were not visible, even moments before.
Pellucid sensation. I felt completely free. Nothing. ― Rinker Buck, The Oregon Trail: An American Journey
