Searching for elephants and Buddha!

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This will be my first trip alone in a few years. It has come full circle, since my first solo adventure to Trinidad in 2001, ending with the devastating tragedy of 9/11/01. Months ago, I decided that Sri Lanka would be the best place to buy a gem for an engagement ring for my then current girlfriend. While watching Globetrekker, we discovered that Sri Lanka was one of the biggest exporters of precious gems. Thus the seed was planted. Since I don't support the diamond industry, it made sense. I made it clear from the get go that diamonds should not be expected because of the way in which they are mined and controlled. However, precious gems like rubies, pink sapphires, and emeralds were all fair game! She wanted love, not jewelry, so she excitedly agreed. Fast forward to the present. Needless to say, you can figure out from the very first sentence that I am going alone. We are no longer together, so this trip has turned from a search for precious gems into a search for adventure, peace, enlightenment,...Bodhisattva.

There is obviously sadness associated with all break-ups. We have all been through them. But you learn from each and every one because it makes the final relationship worth all the scattered failures left behind. And if you are smart, you also learn from the mistakes you have made. I still plan on purchasing a big fat rock of some sort, but also seek to find something more precious...am I Julia Roberts and is this Eat, Pray, Love? Lol, not that I have seen that movie, on a plane, returning from the Carribbean, last October...

We are all flawed by nature- I am definitely no exception. But to simply accept that fact at face value, without trying to improve and challenge oneself, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually is a cop out at best. At worst, you are beholden to a devastating life of certain emptiness and sorrow. Maybe ignorance is bliss, but I certainly don't want to live that way. If I'm not tryin', I'm dyin'...

So at the very worst, I hope to recharge my spirit and come to really re-appreciate the many blessings of my life. At best, I will find myself at the very beginning of the path I am seeking- rediscovering utmost patience, compassion, selflessness, self-reliance. You cannot regret the paths you have walked prior, only regret those you have walked more than once...

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Comments

[anonymous]

Wow. Very powerful post!!