What Drives You?

What drives you?

Day after day, long hours on never-ending roads, on those freezing mornings and blistering hot afternoons, in the pouring rain and sand storms, through jungles and deserts, and mountains and endless plains.

What makes you get up?

With the broken body and a heart shattered a few times, with no future in sight or no glorious past to cherish, no one to hold on to, and no goal in this life or the next.

How do you carry yourself on a long journey?

Maybe, it is because of the inner calling or curiosity. Perhaps, it is for the hope that somewhere down the road lies the ultimate ointment for the spiritual wounds and treasures that would make our souls rich and provide answers to the mysteries of our existence and the universe.

Perhaps, life is nothing but a quest to find our true selves. When we are out in the far lands, what we seek is not the sight of magnificent landscapes or the unique experiences from exotic cultures, but who we are. We are searching for our reflection on a still lake or someone’s face. We await a whispering voice in the moment of quietness or awe.

How to cope with your insignificance in the grandeur of the universe?

Reflect upon the chain of events spanning over billions of years that occurred to bring us into existence.

How to detach yourself from this world while living inside it?

Surrender and become one with the universe.

Why go through all this pain?

All the suffering, the blood and the sweat, hunger, thirst and loneliness, is for the cleansing of the soul. Just keep going.

Sleep and hold on tight to your broken up dreams and rise like a new day. And travel we must, for as long as we find a road ahead of us. Somewhere close to the horizon lies the answer to all questions.

We may not find it always. But at least, we will inch closer to it, and in the process, to ourselves. After all, this long journey of ours, even though it takes place in the outer world, is a journey within!

So carry on!