When we embarked on this RV journey, I pledged to do it for a year as an evaluation period. We have reached the end of that commitment! This year has been a learning experience like no other, full of life lessons from the poignant to the peaceful. I have learned how to handle shit both literal and imagined. If I could make a list of the three biggest truths that I have gleaned from all of my experiences in the past year (and with no small contribution from personal experience prior to that) it would be this:
1. Perspective Matters
2. Perception is Reality
3. Everything "IS"
Now, if you read my previous post, I already talked a bit about the first two points, so I'm just going to focus on the last one today.
EVERYTHING "IS"
I do not claim to be a great thinker, or philosopher, and I know that my words, thoughts, and ideas are primarily for my own personal development. I do like to share them here so that you can get to know me better, and so that I can learn a little more about myself through some personal reflection. This blog has also been documenting our family journey in the RV for this past year that we have spent living on the road, and those life experiences shape my personal philosophy.
This has been an amazing year. From the original lesson of what to look for when shopping for an RV to what to do when the brakes go out, all the way to learning how to live more simply and being more flexible. Through all of this, I have come to the realization that nothing is ever just one thing. The confluence of events that lead to each situation are a myriad with a mind boggling level of complexity, and the perfection of the outcome is amazing. Even the situations that are the most terrifying, like the brakes going out during Christmas week, have their Christmas angel resolutions. Throughout our journey, there have been many different explanations offered to us for why things work out the way they do. Some people want to point to God's plan, or fate, or karma -- all of which may be true -- but rather than define, I seek to accept. I don't need to understand everything, or really anything, because that is not necessarily going to change what "is".
I realize that this is a really simple concept, and perhaps I lack the language mastery needed to communicate this concept effectively. But that also doesn't change what "is" (ha!) I realize this lesson is mostly just for me, and probably won't be earth-shattering to anyone else. If you stopped reading this already, I wouldn't blame you. Heck, I've halfway tuned myself out at this point. But I'm going to carry on, because I don't feel finished yet.
Ever since I was a little kid, I used to get really frustrated if someone ate my candy. Regardless of whether I purchased it myself, or it was given to me, I felt like I had earned that candy, and I wanted to enjoy it all to myself. As I've grown up, I have become much more understanding and generous, and I will usually share my candy with you (if you ask me nicely.) Sometimes, especially if you have children, your candy may mysteriously go missing. Children, I have learned, are notoriously impulsive and not always the most considerate. Empathy and consideration are things that are learned over time with more interpersonal life experiences. The point that I'm trying to get to is that the candy is now gone. It doesn't matter who, how, or why. None of the answers to that question will make the candy not gone.
Acceptance. That is one of the greatest lessons that I have learned in this past year. I had to let go of a lot of things, ideas, and preconceived notions about how the universe operates. Once I can do that, and it's an ongoing process at this point, I can understand some of the more important things in life. Instead of focusing on why a particular life event has occurred, I can accept that it "is" and then move on from there.
Understanding that EVERYTHING "IS" helps me to adjust my PERSPECTIVE, which changes my PERCEPTION and alters my REALITY.
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