The Importance of Embarking on the Search – The Simply Luxurious Life®

Thank you for reading TSLL. The first two posts are complimentary. You have 2 free post views remaining this month.

Become a Member for as little as $4/mo and enjoy unlimited reading of TSLL blog.

This past weekend, Nelle and I were taking a hike on a regular trail outside of Bend near Tumalo Falls. A looping two-mile trail I have hiked many times over the past ten years, yet this excursion led me to cross paths with two explorers who were hiking just off the trail in search of a petroglyph etched on a boulder the size of a small bus. Had I ever seen it? they asked me.

Unfortunately, I had not, and as they shared that the last time they saw it was some 25 years ago, having since left the area, only having just returned after so many years had passed, I expressed hope that they would find it. What a special artifact of the past inhabitants to have witnessed. We hiked along together on the trail for a short while (I learning that said trail had not been in existence when they last explored these woods), exchanged knowledge of the area, and then they ventured off into the trees and down the slope, promising to give a whoop aloud to let me know they had found it. I wished them success in their search, and we parted ways.

While I may never know whether they found their petroglyph (no whoop was heard during my time on the trail), I am confident they eventually found what nourished them. Only they will know what that is, and sometimes we don’t realize we’ve found it for some time because of our too-narrow focus on finding exactly what we say we are looking for. Either way, we are given much when we choose to search for something that wants to be found.

During the holiday seasons, a mixed bag of emotions can often well up within us, different each year and a variation unique to each of us depending on circumstances, chapters in our lives, whether our hopes and dreams have been fulfilled, or if we have grounded our lives in contentment. And if we find ourselves at this time feeling the need to search for something, even if we think we know exactly what that ‘something’ is, so long as we choose to step foot on the trail and begin the excursion to find it, we will find exactly what we need that will elevate our life and lead us to fulfillment.

We may not find it quickly, and likely won’t find it directly. In fact, as I reflect on my own journey thus far, many of the early searches didn’t result in a concrete outcome so much as providing the stepping stone I needed to take to lead me to the next necessary search that would eventually lead me to exactly what brought me to life.

In two scenarios, this was the case: my enrolling in a French language class abroad during my junior year in high school and my choosing to pursue a Master’s in secondary education to enable me to build upon my bachelor’s in the beloved subject of English rather than a BA in elementary education which had been half-heartedly chosen. Both decisions eventually demonstrated their importance in giving me the foundation I needed to build upon to live the life I love: the wake-up call (and reassurance) to embrace a way of life that brought me to life, even if others didn’t understand, and the resumé to be considered and eventually chosen to teach the course of my dreams for the latter half of my teaching tenure and what would turn out to be the key to securing a teaching job in Bend, Oregon.

We cannot know how many ‘searches’, aka steps, along our journey it will take to lead us to what will bring us to life, energizing us almost indescribably to the onlooker, and provide the fulfillment we’ve been seeking. But we can be certain that so long as we choose to search, to wander off the trail that has not provided what we thought we would find, that is where we will find what speaks our language. Because it is while we are searching where the gems are found.

What I witnessed in the two explorers I happened to cross paths with were two kindred souls, separated by maybe thirty years in age or perhaps more (the lead explorer being in his 70s and his younger compatriot being in his 40s), united by the determination to search, willing to try to find what spoke to them, that they knew to be special and for the elder gentleman leading the search, something held fondly in his memory for nearly three decades.

Finding our dharma, finding what brings us to life while also being what we can give to the world, serves as a motivator in very much the same way. We know it exists even if we cannot provide concrete proof at the time. We know it is possible to find because our inner compass will not let it drop from our curious mind to pursue, but we now realize we may have to go off on our own for a while, trusting our inner compass to guide us. When we do, we will be glad we had the courage to trust what wouldn’t subside until we honored its gentle, yet unyielding nudging to search for it and experience the euphoria when it all, piece by piece, ever so gradually at times, all of a sudden in other moments, comes together.

~Learn more about dharma, how to know how to trust your journey, and exactly what it is in relationship to true contentment in TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass. View the detailed syllabus, watch the trailer, and read student reviews from students who have finished the course here.