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September 05, 2004
Finding purpose and direction in life
Sunday, September 5, 2004 PLOG Entry Seven.
Highlights of the day:
27 mile bike ride after the rain stopped. Today I saw the camel outside. I also saw many deer and enjoyed waving to people who were out driving around or walking by the roads. I was also splashed by a big sport utility vehicle, which was kind of a weird sensation. I got drenched and it actually felt kind of good because I was pedaling hard and going at a fast pace.
Reading and Napping. - I’ve had a lot of naps this week! It felt good!
Dog-sitting. I enjoyed watching the dogs greet people as they came back to the cottage.
A quiet lunch with my wife and daughter. My daughter commented on how nice it was to be eating lunch together.
Typing my PLOG entries into my laptop computer in preparation of tomorrow’s return home.
Roasting hotdogs for dinner in the fireplace (it was raining outside)
Finding purpose and direction in life
Reading the book Going Home, by Thich Nhat Hanh, I was thrilled to see the topics of Love and Faith so eloquently talked about. He makes a distinction between True Love, True Faith and the kinds of love and faith that lead to further suffering. True Love and Faith are living and are grown in us when nurtured. They give us energy and purpose and direction so we are not wandering aimlessly.
It is not possessive love or blind faith. Thich Nhat Hanh said, “True Love is made of understanding…Out of understanding there will be kindness, there will be compassion, there will be an offering of Joy.” He said that the same can be said of true Faith. “There is a kind of Faith that sustains us and continues to give us strength and Joy.” True Faith comes from experiencing the object of our faith. For many that is experiencing or touching God. Sometimes we are not making God a part of our lives and it shows in our lives by our suffering. He said, “True Faith comes from how the path you are taking can bring you life and love and happiness every day.”
When my wife, daughter and I were eating lunch together we were talking about what kind of career or work my daughter would like to do after she goes through college. She was thinking about what things she would be happy doing and what things she wouldn’t like doing.
My oldest daughter, the loving, good hearted young woman who I adopted as my own in India, graduated from college this year but still has no direction or purpose. My thoughts turned to her and I asked my wife and daughter what more I could give to her to help her find her purpose and Joy in life. True love looks deeply and understands what she needs. In these thoughts I found my purpose and joy in helping her to discover her direction, and in being there for her as she grows and learns. Isn’t that what a father loving a daughter is about?
Posted by carl1236 at September 5, 2004 10:20 PM