Staying in the Journey

This month, I’ve been trying to stay with my word, Journey.

Not because I’m naturally doing it well. If anything, this month has made it harder.

The days are full. I’m moving from one thing to the next, getting things done and leaving other things undone for tomorrow. I’m forcing myself to stop at 5:30, but I don’t feel rested until my head hits the pillow.

And even then, it feels like it starts all over again. “Journey” is flying by. Which is not exactly how I imagined this word would feel.

Looking More Closely

So instead of trying to “live it out” perfectly, I did something simpler.

I looked at the word itself, opened a dictionary. Not because I didn’t know what journey meant—but because I wanted to see what I might be missing.

Definition:

• traveling from one place to another

• a process of change over time

That second one is the one that stayed with me.

A process.

Not completion. Not arrival. Not getting everything done. That already pushes back a little on how I’m currently living my days.

Then I looked at related words.

• path

• way

• passage

“Path” feels smaller.
“Way” feels steady.
“Passage” feels like something you move through whether you control it or not.

That was helpful. Because most of my days right now feel less like I’m directing something and more like I’m moving through it.

Then I looked at the opposites.

That part landed harder than I expected.

• staying still

• arriving

• being settled

• finished

I like those words. I like finished. I like settled. And journey is none of those.

Which explains some of the tension I’m feeling.

I want resolution. But this year may be asking for movement instead.

A Small Realization

I’m not struggling because I picked the wrong word.

I’m struggling because I picked an honest one.

And right now, it looks like:

• unfinished work

• full days

• limited rest

• and continuing anyway

That may be what journey actually is for me in this season.

Not slow nor quiet, not neatly reflective.

But… in motion.