Paths

This morning I awoke from a dream.... one of those thought-provoking ones that keep you awake wondering what would have happened next if I had stayed asleep dreaming.

In my dream I was traveling down a narrow, flat road, actually it was more like a gravel path. In the distance I could see a wall that went across the road and extended as far as the eye could see. I knew the wall meant the end of my journey, death. I was not afraid, it was reality. However I realized that I had a choice on what I did in my life between right now and when I got to the wall. I knew that timing was not an issue, I would get to the wall when I got there. I was filled with the sense that I could just slowly cruise down the path, straight and narrow, enjoying the scenery. Enjoying what I've accomplished so far in life. My other choice was to dart here and there on side paths and see what adventures lay under the bushes in the field around the road. One choice left me feeling relaxed and the other choice left me feeling excited.

I awoke with the question, which way am I going to travel to that wall? Both choices were appealing. I lay in bed imagining both choices and I imagined feeling relaxed and bored in re-living accomplishments. I could also imagine feeling excited and exhausted in seeking new adventures. I came up with the "answer" to how I could travel to the wall, the end of my life. I could take short side trips, finding new things to do, see and live. Then I could come back to the road and relax and travel the straight-and-narrow for awhile. Then go back to the new things and back to relaxing. I thought of it as a combination of the tortoise and hare philosophy. I like that journey, I think it may fit me!