Nature, Time, and Patience: Five Months Later...

Tim: The other day, Candy and I went to the local Panera Bread location to have a bowl of soup and a sandwich for lunch. Candy ordered a Jones Soda to drink and under the cap of the soda was a quote that struck us both. The quote is from H.G. Bohn, a famous British publisher from the 19th century:

Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians.

In addition, I thought the picture above fits the journey we have been on since March 13th.

Nature: During this “Pause on Purpose” trip, the places that struck a cord with us most were the places out west that were naturally beautiful. Places like the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the ancient ruins of the Chacoan people of New Mexico, the Hill country of West Central Texas, and the Oregon coastline and forests are just a few of these incredible natural wonders.

These areas inspired us to continue on this journey called life knowing that something great could be around the corner awaiting us. We can certainly understand what Bohn meant by nature being a great physician.

Time: As of today, we have been out on our great adventure for five months. In this time, we have logged over 20,000 miles in our 2003 Honda Element, been to 19 states, and spent a lot of time thinking about each other and the future.

We have also thought about the things/places that made us unhappy in the past. Ben Stein, who we have spoken about before in the blog postings, quoted in his book “How Successful People Win” the following about taking time: “when you’re wounded, let it bleed for a while. Even the hardiest cowboy cannot just spring to his feet after he gets knocked down by a crazed bronco.” We were hurt, have bled for a while and time has healed our wounds. We can certainly understand what Bohn meant by time being a great physician.

Patience: During the past five months, we have gained some patience and openness to a new experience, although I would say Candy is way ahead of me in both of these areas. We have been blessed with the opportunity to start over with our lives right now and that is something that most people never get to do. Like it or not, we have to be patient because something good could be just around the corner.

However, it has been tough to be patient when so many resumes and job applications have been sent out with little or no effect; when a job gets ripped from your hands for reasons we still do not understand; or when you look to transition into another career field and you have to start over at ground level despite the experience you gained in your other career field.

We have read a ton during this trip. I read a book on visualization while we were in Pueblo and came across the word Satori, a Zen term for enlightenment. The word literally means "to understand" or deep, lasting enlightenment. Satori can be found in every moment of life; it is wrapped in all daily activities with its goal to unwrap them to truly understand.

It is sometimes loosely used interchangeably with Kensho, but Kensho refers to an "awakening", a clear glimpse of the true nature of creation (example: we may think of a baby when it first walks. After much effort, it stands upright, finds its balance and walks a few steps (kensho), then falls). Then an example of satori: after continued effort the child will one day find that it is able to walk all the time (satori).

What I want from our lives is to be “enlightened” like a child. They never think about falling, they just barrel through their life, learn as they go, and do not even think about failure, just enlightenment. Patience would not be issue for us as adults if we just lived life in this way. Maybe, to an extent, Candy and I have been looking for this for nearly 11 years of marriage. I believe most people look for it their entire lives.

Personally, I think what Bohn said about patience being a great physician may not be felt by us for some time, but it will be felt. Even in the toughest of situations, I have learned through this experience that patience might be the greatest trait to have (other than faith, of course).

What the future holds for us we really can not be sure. However, we do have goals and dreams still and with those you can go almost anywhere.

Five months ago, we left on a trip that we thought could be a very short trip. Instead, I believe that we will continue on this “Pause on Purpose” trip for the rest of our life. We stopped our other trip to begin another one on March 13, 2006. I don’t think that we have ever made a better decision in our life.

As has been the case since we started blogging, we will keep you informed about where we are heading. We hope you had a great weekend!