Wander

Having just returned from vacation I find it really ironic that the coin I chose this week is "Wander".  No I didn't search through all the coins to find the right one, it just came up!  Not sure what that means in  cosmic terms but there you go.

It is an appropriate one for me since I do love to travel.  I feel as if my whole life has been shaped by travel. First with the volumes of National Geographic magazines my Grandmother entertained me with, then becoming a Travel Agent for 16 years and the places I got to see doing that.  Then continuing in the airline industry in one form or another for 12 more years.

Now I travel only for fun or family and not nearly as much as I would like.  I have dreams of touring Europe like an upgraded between-semesters college student,  except with good luggage and nice hotel rooms instead of a backpack and a hostel.  But all the same just wandering around meeting the people, enjoying the sights, tasting the local flavors, enjoying the whole experience.

Wandering plays other great parts in my life:  my attention is always wandering off from the known to the unknown.  I always want to look at something I'm not looking at right now and think about other ideas than the ones pertaining to the task at hand.

The direction of my life has been affected by wandering as well.  While I'd love to say I've had "a plan"  -  nope not really. Sometimes I feel as if I've wandered my whole existence - taking in the sights, tasting the local flavors and enjoying the whole experience.

Let me hear from you on "Wander".  I really want to hear your stories.

Altered

Altered - changed - for good or bad.  How many times have your plans been altered?  How many times has your life been altered and what caused the alteration?  Were the alterations by choice or by chance? (Back to last month's Destiny)

I can't count the times my plans and life have been altered.  And sometimes it seemed really REALLY bad.  But from where I'm standing now it was all good in the end. Not that the road from then till now wasn't really rocky and very hard to travel but the destination has been very sweet.

You know how everyone tells you to make plans, have goals, plot out your life.  Well I tried - but every time my plans were altered by something.  Maybe I wasn't strong enough to stay on track and allowed myself to get moved off course.  That is probably truer than anything. I've always been up for a good adventure and leaving the road to go see what was just out of sight!  Makes for great stories but not exactly one of those lives others deem successful.

So I guess I've been the cause of most of the alterations in my plans and even though it would have been easier I would have changed it.

OK - your turn!  Want to hear your thoughts.

Destiny

The honor of First Coin Drawn goes to Destiny!  I find that interesting in itself don't you?  

Webster's defines Destiny as "something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune. the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events; the power or agency that determines the course of events."

I guess every life has a "destiny" - is that the same thing as a destination - an ultimate final arrival?  Or is destiny a series of "arrivals" ongoing through your life?  Are they pre-fixed?  If so what power do you think does that?  Or can you change them - do you have ultimate control of your life?  

I think we all control our choices and those choices send us down the paths along which we live our lives.  Ultimately all of those choices make us who we are and where we end up.  And that total "who" is what we are accountable for.  But what about those little bombs that drop into our lives out of nowhere - the good ones and the bad ones?  Had a bunch of those along the way - how about you? Are those just random accidents or Destiny's way of correcting our course.  I've decided they are challenges for us and how we choose to react to them shapes our path adding joy, sadness or hardship.

For me it seems some folks know exactly where their life is going and how they are going to get there.  I've never had that luxury.  Mine has been more like the quote below from Gilda Radner and you know, I've grown to love it!

 "Life ... is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity."

Now it's your turn.  Reflect and comment please.  No one be mean OK?  See you next week!

C.K.R.

Wishing Coins - The Beginning

A couple of years ago, my oldest daughter gave me Wishing Coins for Mother's Day.  The card that came with them stated:

Wishing Coins

"Each coin is a wish from me to you.  Draw a coin
from the bag each morning and reflect on what it 

says.  The goal is to see if you can make 

that wish come true before the end of the day.

Each coin has endless possibilities."

I'm finally getting around to doing these but instead of a day - since everyone's days are so crowded now - I thought I'd give each one a week's worth of thought and reflection.  And I thought I'd share this journey with you. 

Let me know what your thoughts are on each one.  I'd love to hear what your reflections created.