“The hardest part about reaching heaven is realising you have arrived.” Unknown

It’s often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If that’s the case, then how would you know when you had reached the end of a journey and what would you do if you did?

That’s the question that we are going to ponder for a few moments today, because in my experience most people struggle much more with understanding how to end something than they do with how to start it.

At the beginning of any expedition to a place unknown there may be fear, excitement, confidence, hesitation, optimism or pessimism but, regardless of our mindset, eventually, inevitably, we do begin. And like it or not, easy, or not, days begin to pass and we progress forward whether we realise it or not.

Fair enough, but how do you know when it is time to stop?

Better yet, if you do start to get the feeling that it is time to stop, how do you stop?

These may seem like trivial questions but, trust me, they’re not.

In any situation, despite the fact that part of you might well be feeling like it is time to unload your baggage, down your tools or lower your paint brush and back away from the canvas, another “voice” in your head may well be urging you to keep going, keep tinkering, keep adding, keep collecting, keep feeding your addiction.

And, to make matters worse, the part of yourself that is urging you forward may appear to have no off switch.

Why should it? Hasn’t it served you well up to this point? Isn’t it the reason that you got to this point in the first place? How could stopping ever be a good thing?

In fact, this “voice” can be very hard to argue with, particularly if you are searching for a place that you have never been before, such as your own personal nirvana.

After all, if you are searching for an elusive place or state of being that you have not experienced before except in the most fleeting of moments, how would you ever be really sure you had found it? Could you ever be sure that the grass wouldn’t be a little greener, or the view a tiny bit better, just beyond the next hill?

These questions can be very tough to answer until you suddenly consider the one possibility that the “voice” is counting on you never considering that you might have already arrived.

What if all the challenges you have been facing in your life are just an elaborate game of “let’s pretend” that you have been playing with yourself to avoid seeing the truth?

What would that mean?

How would that change how you view your current situation?

And better yet, if you have already arrived … what will you do next?

Robin Trimingham is the chief operating officer of The Olderhood Group Ltd and a virtual presenter, journalist, podcaster and thought leader in the fields of life transition and change management. Connect with Robin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/olderhoodgroup1/ or robin@olderhood.com