“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
Sometimes the goalposts move.
Your journey is your journey. There's no right way to get from point A (the idea) to point B (the idea manifested, tangible, real). Furthermore, there's no guarantee that Point B, the destination, won't change. Because the journey changes us. Sometimes the goalposts move.
I stay mostly on track by asking myself, "What would I like to create?"
Then I take steps to create it.*
Even if I'm not sure exactly what the final product will be or how I will get there.
Right now I'm creating a body of work using words and sketchbooks. There's a book that's eeking out in slow drips, though I'm unclear right now on its structure and on where it will be shelved in the bookstore. Memoir? Self help? Travel and outdoors?
Action begets clarity, though.
So I take a few steps every day towards "body of work" and "book." Each step I take is a creative process that will lead to more clarity; pieces of the puzzle falling into place with every step.
All that's required of me is being willing to take the steps every day, being willing to adjust my course as indicated and being willing to live in the mystery of not always knowing where I'm going or what the path will bring.
My job is to just keep making it up as I go along.
And not get too distracted by the many other shining paths that always look so tempting
*I think living in this mystery, taking steps and counting on the steps to bring clarity, works best, maybe only works, when your soul is in alignment with the Divine.
I'm no expert and this is another thing I'm just making up as I go along.
I've spent most of my life out of that alignment, doing things I thought I was "supposed" to do, following the expected path. My thru-hike changed me, made me see the folly of fitting in and embrace the freedom of standing out. It helped connect with my truth so I could start making decisions from a place of knowing--knowing what's right for me at a soul level (even if it seems berserk to everyone around me).
Coming into alignment looks a little berserk to me, too. But dang if it's not funner than a hamster wheel. I don't know for sure where I'm going, but I know I'm going nowhere on a squeaky wheel in a cage.