Companions on Life’s Journey

We don’t journey through life alone.  There are companions for even those who live monastic values.  For those who seek to climb to the higher places, the companions they select will largely determine how far they will be able to go.  Of the many options available, Determination and Discipline are by far two of the strongest guides.  Many however choose to select others who may appear less difficult to deal with. 

One of my all-time favorite books is Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.  The book is an allegory about a frightened goose whose heart’s desire is to journey to the High Places with the Chief Shepherd.  While the book parallels many of the teachings of the Gospels, it is equally insightful for anyone seeking to pursue life’s purpose.  Early in the book, Much Afraid (the goose) is provided with two guides who will accompany her on the journey.  The guides are tall and strong, but for Much Afraid, they are fearful and intimidating.  However, as she begins to climb, she finds their grasp essential yet bitter. 

As we set out on life’s journey, it is the companions that challenge us the most that we need.  The climb isn’t easy and to scale to heights beyond our reach requires guides that are strong.  Determination and Discipline are two such guides.  Both offer assistance in ways that guides like Peace, Joy, Love, or Happiness cannot.  When you stand at the bottom of a mountain with sheer cliffs overhead, it is Determination that can support you by pushing you forward or pulling you up.  When the journey becomes arduous and you weary from the work, it is Discipline that coaxes you on.  Like the companions selected for Much Afraid, both Determination and Discipline can be foreboding – they wouldn’t be the natural choice for most of us.  Yet without them, we lack the mental strength to journey on.

What companions have you selected for your journey and are they up to the task?  A decision to reach for the highest places in your life comes with a price.  If the trip were easy many more would be ahead of you.  That is why you can feel alone when you’re hanging on the side of a mountain.  Few choose the path unbroken by earlier visitors.  If you want to someday find yourself standing on the peak, then choose companions that have proven themselves to be stalwart in the midst of difficulty.  They will not let you fall.  As for Much Afraid, she learned later in her journey that the companions given her became her must trusted and loved friends.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,


And sorry I could not travel both


And be one traveler, long I stood


And looked down one as far as I could


To where it bent in the undergrowth;



Then took the other, as just as fair,


And having perhaps the better claim


Because it was grassy and wanted wear,


Though as for that the passing there


Had worn them really about the same,



And both that morning equally lay


In leaves no step had trodden black.


Oh, I marked the first for another day!


Yet knowing how way leads on to way


I doubted if I should ever come back.



I shall be telling this with a sigh


Somewhere ages and ages hence:


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,


I took the one less traveled by,


And that has made all the difference.

Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action and an aspiring quiet, reflective servant-leader.  Curious sage in perpetual development connecting us all on a journey of discovery of our highest purpose.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more about Connect2Action by visiting www.connect2action.com.

You can follow his blogs at:  mindfulperspectives.blogspot.com and connect2action.blogspot.com