Pathfinder — Chapter 2 from Aspire
“The moment one definitely commits to oneself then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred…unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.” —William Hutchinson Murray
In tribute to the new year, this is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Aspire:
Tonight’s bright beginning will mark the ending of the year, for tonight when the clock strikes midnight we will bid adieu to the year gone by and welcome the New Year. Tomorrow at sunrise the earth begins anew its 365-day journey around the sun, demonstrating the connectivity of all things in the universe.
The words of William Wordsworth, “Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher,” call out to me, and I reflect on a day last summer when my son Konnor and I, along with several other fathers and sons, stood in the enormous glacial cirque at the base of Lone Peak, the tallest of the tall peaks above Suncrest. There, the rock-littered landscape provides clear evidence why these are called the Rocky Mountains. Everywhere are rocks: piled rocks, or cairns, carefully placed to mark the path by those who have gone before; steps and stairs made of rocks; benches of rock that sit next to granite boulders the size of homes. Atop it all is a smooth slide of nearly vertical rock as long as a city block, carrying a stream of water from the melting snow above.
This rocky place offers dramatic views of the valley and the sparkling lakes below and provides a perfect resting spot to view the towering spectacle of Lone Peak above.
It’s as if Mother Nature is subtly teaching that you can’t look down and look up at the same time.
Gazing upward at the fortress of rock, I realize that the giant steel-and-glass skyscrapers of New York and Hong Kong have nothing on the sixty story spires of stone that stretch into the clouds as they scrape the sky.
Upon the tallest of these natural towers nature has painted with water-leached minerals a distinctly visible question mark that is so large you can’t quite believe what your eyes are seeing. Resting at an elevation of over 11,000 feet, it stands more than ten stories tall and is known to experienced climbers and hikers alike as Question Mark Wall.
The purpose of Question Mark Wall seems self-evident—a reminder that no matter how high we climb, we each need to reflect and ask: How did I get here? Have I been following the correct path? Am I on target? How do I overcome the obstacles ahead of me? Am I clear about where I really want to go? Do I recognize those who are waiting to help me on my path?
I leave my reverie and write in my journal that questions such as these, and their answers, have dominated my thoughts since I embarked on my own personal journey of discovering the secret power within words.
Keys to Pathfinding
In devoting a significant part of his life to the study of human potential and development, Kevin has come to realize that those who follow their true path and purpose do five things. One of them being that they follow their bliss, and as a result they meet people on their path who have been placed there to guide them along their journey.
When you get on path and on purpose, your teachers who were there all along will show up to help you.
Read more in Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power of Words