I’ve often visualized my life experience as me walking through a thick forest.

Sometimes it’s dense and dark. I can’t see the path. It feels like danger is behind every tree and under every rock. I can’t see the sky through the trees and fog. Sometimes I feel like I’m walking in circles – making the same mistakes – wasting my time.

• • •

Other times, the fog lifts, the trees and brush clear, and I can see the path forward clearly. I can run ahead with confidence and clarity.

Off in the distance I can see a big, beautiful mountain.

That mountain represents my life, lived in full, having met my own expectations – satisfied with every success and failure – knowing I lived life well. It is my Defined Life – full of purpose and meaning.

The path to that mountain is mostly unseen, especially from my perspective deep in the forest but, I know it’s there. I catch glimpses at times and occasionally I reach a hilltop where I can see the whole majestic landscape leading to it – the blue skies, storms in the distance, thick forests, happy valleys and dangerous cliffs. I see the desert of distraction and the path of purpose that closely skirts the edges at times – disappearing into the forest at others.

Knowing the general direction of my path is key in the beginning. When there is no clear next step, no map or trail signs, all we can do is take small steps that take us a bit closer.

With each step in the right direction the path gets more apparent.

• • •

We learn survival skills along the way. We learn to better identify pitfalls and danger. And, we get more efficient as we improve our health, mentality, and endurance.

Your journey will not look exactly like mine. You will have different obstacles to overcome. You’ll find shortcuts I will not. We probably even started with different skills and a different toolset.

While having completely different experiences, we will still walk a path that requires both of us to learn, grow, struggle, and overcome.

The human experience is similar in that way. We all have the path to walk. We either chose the path of purpose and meaning or we choose to be lost.

• • •

We all get lost in the forest at times. It’s up to us to explore and find our path. Some choose to never see their mountain. They stay lost. They get swallowed up by the brush, overcome with exhaustion, and eventually die in the darkness – sometimes regretting that they never blazed their own path and reached their mountain – other times never even knowing there was a better outcome to be had.

That seems tragic to me. I don’t want that for either one of us. It’s why I fight every day to define my path.

I make mistakes. I sometimes reach a dead end and have to turn back. But I always strive to move closer to my mountain – sometimes with a clear path ahead – other times just a general direction I struggle to travel.

Define My Day is the guidebook that helps me through all of it.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be exploring the “Path of Purpose” with you and how you can use Define My Day to travel your path and avoid being lost along the way.

Keep moving forward,