The Journey – Part 1
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

When you hear the word journey, what thoughts come to mind? For some reason, the word journey sounds much more meaningful than trip. You take a trip to the grocery store. When I think of a journey, I think of my life journey. There is a beginning, and there is an end. If you are a person of faith as I am, the end of my life journey is the beginning of something eternal. For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on my life journey. During Live2Lead 2020, John Maxwell referred to the joy of the journey. Having come through a few challenging weeks, the word joy just jumped out at me. What about the journey is joyful? Please know that I am not complaining about my life journey at all. My goal is to help us all understand what is meant by finding joy along the journey of life.

It is often said that the dream is free, but the journey isn’t. That statement makes it sound like our life journey is difficult and costly. It’s costly and difficult if we are living a life that matters. It’s costly and difficult is we are traveling uphill and doing things that take effort. If we are just coasting downhill and living life as it comes without any dreams and without any passion, the journey is cheap and easy. I suppose I would just call that a trip. I want a life that means more than simply going through the motions. I want my life journey to be joyful and to have a purpose that is beyond me. I want my life journey to go beyond success to significance. So, where does this all begin?

Our life journey begins with a step. A step into the unknown and unexplored. A step that has us moving forward in the direction of our dreams. A step that is scary and yet inviting. The most important step of all is the first step, which gets us moving. Something that I find interesting about the steps making up a lifelong journey is that we don’t know or even need to know the next step. As we move forward, they become clear, just like when you drive at night. Your headlights have a very finite distance, and yet we keep driving. Don’t be afraid to keep moving. Challenges and struggles will come into our lives, and often we are unsure of what they mean. Lately, I have realized that it means I am growing. I am embracing new things that I have never seen before. I am willing to look at things in different ways. So, where is the joy, you ask? It’s right there. It’s there in the moments of growth and awareness. It’s there in realizing I have the courage to take the next step, even when I can’t see very far—the next step on the wonderful journey of my life.

If this topic has you wondering about the journey of life, please join Marisa Norcross and me for Episode 175 of The Next Page podcast as we take a closer look at the various types of steps we take and where the joy is found.

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