I woke and rose after just a few hours of sleep on the antique store bench and headed back out onto The Way. Things sooner began to get lighter out as I walked along, and traffic began to pick up as well, and yet I was still able to easily flow against traffic on the more-than-wide-enough-for-comfortable-treading shoulder – all the way to a roadside 7-11 convenience store, where I asked how far I was from Charlottesville (where I thought I might stop for the night). “About 20 more miles,” came the reply “You’re essentially already there.” This, from a man who obviously had no concept of the time required or the energies involved with any long-distance walking endeavor. Still, I appreciated his exuberance all the same, and proceeded onward with a solid smoothness in my gait and a beaming smile across my face …

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up … Indeed, most of the important accomplishments in human history have been effectuated by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all of success or triumph … The pilgrim maintains an easy persistence to his treading by remembering that every step was itself a victory; that every step taken was itself an arrival … And this is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by your highest Self as a truly mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a selfless Force of Nature – striving solely to bring others joy or lessen their burdens – instead of a selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” ~ inspired by Thomas Edison, Dale Carnegie, George Saunders & George B. Shaw

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt