There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path

One of my favorite movies is The Matrix. The amount of philosophy dispensed in that movie is truly amazing to me since on first glance it is an action movie. One of my favorite lines from that movie that inspired this post was spoken by Morpheus, "there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

This really got me thinking when I first heard it and it resonates with me today. How many of us truly know the path? And of those, how many actually walk the path? I would have to think out of the billions of humans roaming the earth, less than 1% of us are truly walking the path. Why is that? And what is "the path" anyway?

To me the path is a way of life that leads to health, happiness and fulfillment. There are many things I do to be on this path, but as with all people it is kind of a pyramid with health being at the very bottom - it is my foundation. When I am sick there is nothing I crave more than being healthy, but when I am healthy oftentimes I take it for granted. I guess in some small way this is the part of walking the path - being conscious of your actions in support of your ultimate goals. Walking the path requires a series of conscious decisions that together all create an excellent life.

At the end of the day the path to me is trying to get the most out of this lifetime. Whether that is 5 or 50 more years, I want to make the most out of what life has to offer.

Walking the path starts with eating a healthy diet filled with fruits, veggies and low in fat. The path continues with exercise, which not only keeps my body strong and fit, but also clears my head and reduces my stress. From there the path gets a little harder to walk down because my fulfillment includes a wide variety of outlets, many of which I don't regularly have time for. Since walking the path takes conscious thought as to what the path is, I need time to just be with my thoughts. However, like most parents, by time I get some quiet time, all I want to do is sleep.

In my free time I spend the greatest amount of it with my kids since at their young ages, time with them is my priority. This is closely followed by time with my wife. Which leaves time for myself sitting in third position (and that is why I rarely write in this blog).

I think that his why so few people walk the path, they simply don't have time or make the time to think about living a fulfilled life. Instead they are busy just being on whatever path they are on. Which in a sense feels like you are not on any path. Instead you are simply punching the clock and the days and months fly by without ever thinking about, much less achieving your dreams, goals and desires.

This equates to an unfulfilled life, the proverbial path to nowhere. So knowing where the path is and walking the path takes effort, discipline and time management. You have to have a plan to make time to search for the path - which some days might be sitting with your thoughts and other days it is just making sure you workout. Every day comes with a different challenge and a different way to balance your life out.

At the end of the day, staying on the path comes down to balancing out your life. It is as much art as it is science. Balancing your life takes time and dedication to listen to your inner self and nourishing your body, mind or soul. Some days we are more balanced and centered than others.

There is no doubt that finding the path and staying on the path seems easy, but is probably the hardest thing we as human beings can do.