I did something different today…

I spend anywhere from 90-120 minutes in the car everyday. While in the car I use that time to talk on the phone, listen to the radio or get into books on tape. This morning I drove to work in complete silence.

It was not just to do something different. It was a combination of needing space to think and having to get some quiet moments in to help me recover from the major headache I had last night. I get these migraines and last night’s was bad, it had stayed with me through most of the night and into this morning’s commute.

About 7 minutes into my silent drive I wanted to turn the radio on. I couldn’t take the silence. Just to see if I could make it to work I kept it off almost as if it was something one of my friend’s had dared me to do. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it, but I thought I’d give it a good try. After several more minutes the realization hit me, as I was surrounded by this newly found silence, that I had not heard “nothing” in a long time.

My daily routine and weekend schedule tends to be full of distractions, projects and entertainment. Some of those things are needed, some are not. The distractions from a tough day can be good, the same with entertainment. My problem can be projects. Even when it’s time to rest, I can always find one to be done just to stay busy.

I then began to think about my future and where I want to be in a few years. There are so many places I want to travel to, and many more goals I want to accomplish before my life is done. To become a published author in book form and graduate from college with a degree in film are a couple of the goals I have. From there the images of the future I am hoping for and working towards flashed across my mind.

By the end of my drive I had a sense of calm, a sense of peace that I also had not felt in a while. Even through the construction, car horns and traffic signals I connected with a part of me that I don’t usually get to connect with; Me. Deep down I am a confident and driven person. In the busyness of life I too often forget that and get worried about what people think or in trying to work my way into the right places. Those things will take care of themselves.

Today I connected with that lost part of me and I feel more complete and ready for what lies ahead. I am not stuck in this place and time in my life; it’s just another step in the travels required of it. Down the road I will continue to travel and in time the life I want will be where I am headed.

Always Learning,
-joel