Start now, start where you are........

Joodle said:

I just wanted to share a quote:
"Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with the voice trembling, but start. Start and don't stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just....start" Author unknown. This was sent to me by me sweet Daughter in Law. She knows I'm a little nervous about this journey that I will undertake this coming September. It made me finally commit!!!!

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Aidan21 said:

“Come to the edge," he said.
"We can't, we're afraid!" they responded.
"Come to the edge," he said.
"We can't, We will fall!" they responded.
"Come to the edge," he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.”
― Guillaume Apollinaire

Sounds like your daughter in law gave you a push!!! Good for her and Buen Camino to you!!

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Wokabaut_Meri said:

Your quote is beautiful and inspiring @Joodle

A gift for you, from a favourite poet of mine:

Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way of starting
the conversation.

Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.

To find
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes a
private ear
listening
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

David Whyte
River Flow: New and Selected Poems

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Aidan21 said:

Hi Joodle,
I can only guess at the mixture of emotions you are experiencing stemming from your past loss and future joy. I can only ask the question if your sisters could speak to you now and you told them about your feelings of guilt because you have this life changing opportunity to feel the joy that is in the world, what do you think they would say? I cannot answer for them or you, but my thought is that you should go to the edge and jump, without guilt and without looking back. Guilt serves no-one, joy serves everyone.
Aidan

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Wokabaut_Meri said:

Both my husband's and my parents died in the 5 years before we walked our Camino, 2 with dementia, 1 from cancer and the other from a worn out heart. They were all good people and we often thought of them all as we walked, commenting on where they would have liked to stop, what they would have looked at and laughing (from fond memories) at what we knew would be some of their reactions. My mother, in particular, who died from Lewys Bodies Dementia would have come along with us but then, in her own way, she did.

You may well find that your sisters walk a similar Healing Camino with you. You certainly will not be walking alone.[/QUOTE
Thank you. I hope to be able to feel their spirits cheering me on when I get tired or discouraged.

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