I’m back for a little Life: From A to Z and today I’m on the letter “J.” I love the word JOURNEY because it is such a beautiful way to describe life. Not to sound cliché, but…

Life is a Journey. A Jewel of a Journey!

I don’t know if young people see it the way that older adults do, though. The younger you are, the longer you have to go, the farther you have to travel, and the more unfamiliar and dim the road ahead of you seems. It has never been explored before!

But as we age, we start looking back on our journey and at the road that was so hard to see before, and there it is… right there under our nose, as clear as day. We recognize it because we walked it. And no matter what, it looks beautiful. Unless, of course, you’re hanging onto any negativity that you picked up along the way (and you’re refusing to give it up).

As for me, my journey has been filled with chaos. I’ve encountered struggles, picked up terrible habits, made a million bad choices, had wild times, happy times, sad times, and very, VERY dark times, and I’ve experienced too many crazy things to list.

BUT, I made it. And when I look back at that road, at where I came from, I don’t see those things. I see my family and the great times that we’ve had together. I see my encounter with God along the way, and I see my sobriety. I see the places that I’ve lived, the towns that I’ve visited, and the wonderful meals that I’ve shared with friends.

Better yet, my journey isn’t over. There is still road ahead, a path that I haven’t travelled on before, and it is just waiting to be explored.

Still, round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.

J. R. R. Tolkien

I took this photo with my iPhone while I was hiking with a friend last weekend. I was going to call it iPhoneography, but I cropped it and did a little processing in Photoshop and Smart Photo Editor, so I wasn’t sure what to call it. After pondering it for a bit, and thinking about the letter “J,” I noticed that the yellow and purple flowers looked like jewels to me. It was an awesome hike and, just like life, it was a jewel of a journey.