12 Life Lessons From 2017

Merry Christmas angels, I hope you are all having a magical holiday season. 2017 is quickly coming to an end, it's crazy to think how many wonderful, sad, scary and beautiful things can happen in a single year. I often wondered if someone were to give us a guidebook on January 1st, to help us through the coming year, if things would turn out differently, if perhaps we would be a little less clumsy and a lot more secure. However, going into 2017 blissfully oblivious to what would come helped me realise and learn a lot of things of which no book or manual could ever teach me. I hope this year assisted you in growing and blossoming too. If I did have the chance to whisper some words of wisdom into the ears of last year's Lauren, this, is what I would have told her.

January

You are no longer who you are, you will never ever be who you once were and it's going to take a long time before you will be able to be who you deserve to and want to be. Unknowns to you there is still that tiniest sliver of the true you inside just waiting to be ignited. Never let go of that spark. You may feel consumed by a darkness of which has quenched all your light but hold on. I promise there is still that tiny glimmer of the true you within you. You may not remember who you are but your dearest loved ones still do. The stories they tell you of a little girl who was happy, free, creative, loving, caring and fun always has and will be you. She is just lost right now, she will never be the same but part of her will come back.

February

You wonder how you are going to survive this, it may seem unimaginable but I promise you that you will. You will adapt. You are stronger than you think. You will learn to find joy in the little things like a good morning text from your mammy, a new sudoku book, a doctor who holds your hand while taking bloods. It's going to be ok.

March

Don't judge a book by its cover. Open your eyes. The person you met who scared you will be the very one who wipes your tears when you're weeping with fear. Pain is the greatest shared connection. You are going to make the most unlikeliest of friends; people of all ages, genders, races, religions...and they will be the very people that will help and uplift you the most.

April

Sometimes the scariest choice is often the best decision. Listen to the words of advice from others, you don't always know best. Please stop hating yourself, even for a second. Everything you have tried all along has brought you to this point, take the terrifying risk of change and see what happens, it might just lead to something wonderful.

May

It's ok to be happy. Let go and let things flow. You cannot protect yourself from sadness without consequently protecting yourself from happiness.

June

Follow your hopes and chase your dreams. Your only limit is you. The past few years have hopefully highlighted just how short and fleeting life is. Start the blog, be yourself, do what you've always wanted to do. Stop waiting for tomorrow, live your dreams now.

July

Be gentle with yourself, you're doing the best you can. It can be nerve wrecking being thrown back into teenage hood, everyone else may appear more experienced, put together, 'learned' in the arts of living a young adult life, but, each person you compare yourself to is probably just as intimidated and confused as you are. It's ok to be a late bloomer. Everyone has different human experiences endured at different stages and altering times. There is no 'right' way to grow up. 

August

Just when you think things couldn't possibly get any worse, they can. Don't lose hope. Luckily for you, like yin and yang, it must entail that when you think things couldn't possibly get any better, they can too.

September

Trust the magic of new beginnings. Rather than fearing new changes, look to them as exciting possibilities of which may perhaps contain all of your hopes and dreams. 

October

It's ok to be both. You are allowed to have whatever proportion of characteristics within yourself as you feel to be true. As humans, we may appear as a paradox of opposing beliefs, but that is the beauty of humanity, we are messy creatures. The different sides of us are not mutually exclusive but are rather intertwined as one to create the uniquely stunning people that we are. Like yin and yang, we are entities that need balance. We need both the peace in the wild and the wild within the peace. Allowing yourself to find a balance between the perhaps contradictory states within you rather than tip-toeing on a tightrope is what will help you find contentment and comfort in who you are rather than trying to fit into a specific idealised standard of who you believe you should be. 

November

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change. The lesson repeats as needed. If you react in the same way, expect the same results. Vulnerability can be terrifying but it's the only way we can truly experience beautiful raw moments of pure and honest bliss. Stop waiting for everything to turn bad, good things can actually really happen to you. Stop fearing the moment of which you may ruin everything. Take it as it is, not all apples have a secret poison hidden within. Be love, be light, be fearlessly alive.

December

Don't be afraid of the pain laughing, loving and living might bring. Be afraid of never enjoying the feeling of a love and a life that takes away the fear of experiencing pain. 

'I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.

Delicious Ambiguity.'

If you could give the beautiful pre-2017 version of you some advice what would you say? Feel free to let me know in the comments below or anonymously in the ASK section of my blog (it makes my day getting such kind lovely messages from you, it means the world that these posts are helping people). I hope this year was a year of growth love and happiness for you.  Click here to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts. I hope you enjoyed!

lots of love & peace & happiness

 Time Is Ticking

Time has a funny way of eerily slipping away from us; one day you're six years old playing with your forever best friend and the next day you're eighteen, passing that very same person without even looking up. I really don't know what is scarier; risks or regrets? Every single decision, choice and action you have made in your life has led you to this exact moment, molding you into the beautiful person that you are today, creating the foundation of which all of your human experiences were designed and built. And aren't you ok? After all the risks you took and memories of which you may regret, you survived, you're here and you are just fine. However, are you happy with what your thoughts and conducts have formed? Perhaps you may wish you had spoken more sweetly, smiled more generously or lived more daringly. Yet it’s ok, we assure ourselves; we have plenty of time, there will be another chance, we can try again tomorrow.

But what if tomorrow never comes?

It's a scary but all too real thought. If today was to (hopefully not) be your last day to grace this earth, what would you do? We are all so guilty of offering others words of encouragement and advice; how we must cherish the sweetness and and shortness of life, how we should love with every beat of our hearts, how we should never waste a moment of our fleetingly precious time, but, it's hard. We can't always think that way. All of our words and actions may not always be greeted with, 'Oh of course, the human experience is temporary, why wouldn't she quit her stable job and leave her 'comfortable' life at home to chase a dream of a world that truly sets her soul on fire?' Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could all think like this? However, why are we allowing this fear of judgement hold us back from living a more authentic and vulnerable life? Do you want your last few breaths to be ones of 'what ifs' or 'at least I gave life with all my heart'? 

If tomorrow never came...

I would try to explain the depth of my love to each person I adore. I would hug my parents, sister, family and friends again and again and again. I would thank all of my real life angels for blessing my world. I would be honest with my feelings and my love. I would spend my night wrapped in blankets, lying on the grass, wishing upon each falling star that shoots by. I would apologise to those who I have hurt and upset. I would write to the person that I have been meaning to contact for so long. I would ignore all and any fears of rejection, failure and abandonment. I would dance and sing to my favourite songs. I would stop spending time with those who drain me of my light, energy and happiness. I would get up early to watch the sunrise. I would have my first cup of hot chocolate. I would wear my favourite dress and prettiest makeup that help make me feel like the most beautiful version of me. I would go to the beach and swim in the sea. I would drink chai tea with my sister and play a game of monopoly. I would smile more. I would be ok with being truly and authentically me.

What would you do?

You may wonder, what is stopping you and I from doing these things now? Really and truly, nothing! Just fear, doubt and uncertainty mixed with a sense of boundless immortality. 

There are less than 20 days until the earth completes its annual cycle around the sun, what if we decided to make these next coming days ones of courage, authenticity, risk-taking and freedom? Be honest with your feelings, your hopes, your dreams and desires. Why wait any longer when we may not have the luxury of pause? After all of the possibilities you pursued and memories you may still repent; you are still here, perhaps exactly where you were always meant to be. Let's promise ourselves that we will make our last few moments of 2017 full of risks or fulfilled regrets and not 'what ifs'. 

 'When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.'

What would you do if tomorrow never came? Feel free to let me know in the comments below or anonymously in the ASK section of my blog (it makes my day getting such kind lovely messages from you, it means the world that these posts are helping people). I hope this wasn't morbid but instead inspired a spark of joy and excitement within you!  Click here to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts. I hope you enjoyed!

lots of love & peace & happiness

Happy December my lovelies!

 It's December 1st, Im writing this as I listen to Gavin James' version of Fairy Tale of New York overlooking the rising moon outside my window, with a cup of tea in hand. It can only mean one thing...Christmas is coming; the most wonderful time of the year!

 Whether you celebrate it or not, Christmas is such a beautiful time to spend meaningful moments with your loved ones and celebrate the true joy of life.

What if this Christmas we all decided to make a conscious effort to embrace the true values of Christmas; love, gratitude, kindness and selflessness? This winter I have decided to try my best to not just give presents but the more meaningful gifts of time, love and kindness to others.

I hope you enjoyed the first of my Christmas posts and that you are able to try some of these simple sentiments out, let me know if you do! Please leave any suggestions or questions below in the comments or anonymously in the ASK section of my blog. Click here to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts. I hope you enjoyed!

Of course that does not always mean ones behaviour is ok. Hitler was under the control of an abusive father, lost four of his five siblings before he became a teenager and saw the death of his mother and father before he reached eighteen years of age. What he proceeded to do with his life was not ok but perhaps such an extreme case like this gives us some context as to just how transformative pain can be, how easily a monster can be created and perhaps through love and kindness, how easily a monster can be destroyed.

There is power in your softness. I hope you enjoyed this post, please leave any suggestions or questions below or anonymously in the 'ASK' section of my blog. Click here to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts. Thank you so much for reading!

Tough Times

Sometimes, no matter how strong it shines, the sun's rays can't seep through the clouds. Sometimes the sky is dark and murky, the rain is heavy and cold, the thunder is deafening and strong all while the wind howls sending shivers through your bones. Sometimes even nature can't handle the pressure and even the sky itself explodes.

Life, like nature's sky, can be stormy at times. As much as we may want to laugh under the summer sunbeams and dance with the soft spring breeze, winter always eventually comes. Suddenly, a monsoon falls to earth, seemingly washing every sparkle of hope and each glimmer of peace away.

However, there is hope; sunshine comes to all those who feel hail, storms don't last forever and on the other side of the clouds is a bright blue sky.

Here are some things I have found help me weather the storms of life.

'And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about.'

Be Kind To Yourself

Just because the times are hard on you doesn't mean you have to be hard on yourself. Take this falling rain and shower yourself with love. Do nice things for yourself that will help you through this storm. It may be something as simple as making yourself a hot cup of yummy tea or maybe something more grandeur like booking a self healing retreat in Costa Rica, just to escape for a little while. You deserve rest, you deserve peace, you deserve happiness and you deserve respite from this pain. 

Silver Linings 

The storm may tear you apart, but you get to decide how to put yourself back together again. This period of personal pain may bring with it its perks. Flowers can't grow without rain, each drop of water deepens a tree's roots. The storms of life may have struck your heart, windswept your dreams and drowned the magic of your soul, yet still, here you are, ready to bloom. Allow the cycles of nature to help you to take your time of pain and turn it into your own sense of beauty. Planted deep in the wounds of your darkness were seeds, waiting for this magical moment to grow into exquisite flowers. One can cut all of your stems but that will not stop the light from shining; no adversity will stop you from blossoming. The night has passed, the morning is coming, it’s time to live your life in full bloom, young wildflower. Take this time of pain and turn it into your own sense of beauty. When you are going through a tough time it is undeniably difficult to try and see any good in it. Perhaps one of the most patronising things people can say is 'everything happens for a reason', (I am the biggest culprit of saying this), but it may just be true. I promise that this painful period will strengthen and nourish you, you may unveil a deep roar of thunder within of which you never knew you possessed. You may think you can not withstand the storm but what if this reveals to you that, you, you are the storm. Click here to read my post about embracing change.

Rainbows are Coming 

'Everyone wants happiness and nobody wants pain but you can't have a rainbow without a little rain.' The pain you are experiencing can not compare to the beauty that is coming. Every storm runs out of rain, just as every heartache runs out of pain. When I was first admitted into a specialist unit for my Anorexia, I was hopeless. All I could see and feel was grey; no light or sunbeams shone upon me.  Having spent nine months in hospital battling my demons, I can truly admit that a glimmer of hope sparkled through my clouds. Now, months later, it is still hard, but I am able to see a silver lining that once upon a time was just an illusive dream. Good things are coming, I truly believe and hope that they are for you and I both. We just have to be strong and brave and full of hope. The moment you feel like giving up is the very moment the tide will turn, the clouds will clear and the beautiful prism of the rainbow will appear. 

The Eye of the Storm 

When you are feeling hopeless and full of despair, stop and tell yourself, 'I am alive'. How liberating is it to know that you have survived every single day of your life. Every time that your life was a seemingly unending hurricane of hardship, of which you thought would never end...it did. You survived the whirlwinds before and you will survive them again. Everyone has had experiences of which they thought they would never ever bounce back from; death, divorce, destruction...anything, but they did. Think back on a really painful period of your life and ask yourself, 'Does it still matter now, was it worth all of the self induced worry and stress?'. Hopefully the answer is no. Like the eye of the storm, open your mind to a bigger more beautiful perspective. You are alive, you are breathing, in very simple animalistic terms, how could anything truly be wrong?

Dance in The Rain 

'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain', one of my favourite quotes! The rhythm of nature doesn't stop for anyone, neither does the cycle of life. The storm will pass, the sun will shine, then the winds will turn again. Learn to fall in love with the uncertainty of the weather, the changing of the seasons, the unpredictability of life and the universe's irrational reasons. It may just make your world a little bit brighter.

The Human Contradiction

'There is peace, there is wild, there is both at the same time'.

Who are you? Are you man or woman, black or white, old or young, quiet or loud, strong or weak? Or are you both? What if there are no true limitations or boxes of which we must fit into? What if instead of black and white we are all just unique contrasting shadows of grey?
What if we are both?

'Go wild for a while, my moon child!' 

- Elle (fellow soul sister and crystal lover)

Recently I felt a bit paranoid over other's perhaps perceived notion of who I was, I was scared I wasn't fitting into an idealised standard of which I myself had created. There is part of my soul which loves meditating, sunrise yoga, nighttime journaling, exploring the world and reading self growth books with a cup of peppermint tea. But what if I told you that there is another part of my heart that craves dancing until the early hours of the morning, getting too drunk after one sip of alcohol, spending way too much money online shopping and having fun with my friends...how could that be? Shouldn't I be scouting charity shops and condemning support of the fashion industry? Shouldn't I be cleansing my soul with kale juice and avoiding all 'unnatural' forms of euphoria? Shouldn't I be practicing yogi backbends and helping the less fortunate in all of my spare time?

I started getting upset as to why I was allowing myself to listen to the parts of me which did not coincide with this idealised version of perfection which I believed I needed to be. I thought I needed to be one or the other, all 'peace' or all 'wild' yet the thought of either makes me feel extremely fraudulent and off balance. 

My beautiful sister reminded me that as humans we are not one or the other. We are allowed to have whatever proportion of characteristics within ourselves as we feel to be true. We may appear as a paradox of opposing beliefs but that is the beauty of humanity, we are messy creatures. The different sides of us are not mutually exclusive but are rather intertwined as one to create the uniquely stunning people that we are. Like yin and yang, we are entities that need balance. We need both the peace in the wild and the wild within the peace. Allowing yourself to find a balance between the perhaps contradictory states within you rather than tip-toeing on a tightrope is what will help you find contentment and comfort in who you are rather than trying to fit into a specific idealised standard of who you believe you should be. 

It is important to nurture every aspect of your self to create balance within your mind, body and soul. That may mean spending all week studying diligently and all weekend partying hard. It may ensue eating pizza and chips for dinner followed by a green juice to wash it all down. There is no right or wrong way to fulfil your heart's true needs and desires. You are you and that is your power!

I am starting to realise the importance of this; that I am me and you are you. I am the kind of girl who craves solitude yet who also adores spending time with others. Half of me is bursting with words yet the other half is awkwardly shy. I desire to live in the heart of Manhattan yet I want to build a tree house in the forests of Bali.

'This is the messiness of life; that we all carry multitudes, so must sit with the shifts. We are complicated creatures and ultimately, the balance comes from this understanding. Be water. Flowing, flexible and soft. Subtly powerful and open. Able to accept all changes, yet still led by the pull of steady tides. It is enough'. 

'Im the kinda girl that listens to gansta rap on the way to the farmer's market after yoga'...who are you? Please comment below how you balance the different yet beautiful aspects of your being. Thank you to Leah and Ellen for being my inspirations for this little wander of thoughts. I hope you enjoyed this post, please leave any suggestions or questions below or anonymously in the 'ASK' section of my blog. Click here to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts. Thank you so much for reading!

Dying to Live
World Suicide Prevention Day 2017

It was the early morning of an icy cold January, 2017. My whole life had fallen apart. I weighed just four stone, I was no longer allowed attend school, I was regularly collapsing, my body was shutting down, my doctor ceased to continue seeing me as I refused admittance to a general hospital and she could no longer safely take care of me, my family received a phone call earlier that day notifying them that I would be rushed into hospital in Dublin, for the second time, the minute I turned 18. To me, those things were nothing compared to the fact that chicken vol au vents were for dinner that evening. I sat at the table with tears streaming down my face, screaming that I would stab myself with the bread knife if someone didn't take the 'disgusting poison' away from my plate. I managed to extract a baby mushroom as my dinner, safely scraping off any luring remnants of cream sauce. I shook in horror while staring out my window onto the deserted 3 am street, freaking out because google had failed to supply me with the exact calorific content of the little vegetable. I had gone for two runs already that day but I felt compelled to go for another for fear I had inhaled any cooking fumes which I believed would have made me fatter. I was exhausted, I was terrified, I was alone, I had no more friends, I had no relationship with my family,  I was completely depressed, I couldn't sleep with the pains in my stomach and the aches in my heart, I was absolutely tortured by a never ending monster in my mind. I spent all my days baking exquisite cakes for others, watching reruns of Master Chef, searching through recipe books and researching calorie contents of foods I would never eat. All I thought about was food, weight, numbers, size, calories, shape, fat, mirrors, exercise and weighing 0 pounds.

I wanted to die. I saw it as my only escape; when in reality, I just wanted to be saved.

I crept back into bed, leaving the windows open so the cold air would help me burn more energy. I took out my old journal and fell upon a page that I had written years previously. I studied it like an outsider, a fly on the wall; without judgement and preconceived notions. What I saw changed me. The notion that I could ever be happy, healthy and free from so much fear seemed so unattainable yet here was hand written evidence that I was once all of those things, which to me meant that I could be once  again. That page became the catalyst of which ignited the tiniest spark of hope within me.

'Suicide doesn't end the chance of life getting worse. It eliminates the possibility of life getting any better.' 

That night I no longer wanted to exist. The brain, an organ, just like the heart was in so much pain, its hurt so great, so powerful that it saw death as its only escape. Suicide in a way would have saved me that night. I wouldn't have had to worry about where I would hide my food the next day, how I could sneak out for exercise in the rain, why I felt so terrified and lonely in a world surrounded by others who have at one stage or another felt in as much pain as me. However, suicide that night also would have ended me. My dreams, my hopes, my future transformed from exciting possibilities to sheer memories. There would have been no going back, no do-over, no reset button. That may seem so appealing, finally an end; but it's not. The pain won't end when you die, just like energy can not be created nor destroyed, pain can only be transformed from one form into another. Your pain will pass on. You may think nobody cares, that everyone would be better off without you, that there is no other option, that this is your only way of escape; it in't. If you are struggling, please please please believe me when I say that life gets better. I once felt like you may feel, at times I sometimes still do but I am falling in love with life again and so will you!

We are not here living to die, we are here and we are dying to live!

'Place your hand over your heart, can you feel it? That is called purpose. You’re alive for a reason so don’t ever give up.'

I never ever thought that I could ever be happy or live a life not so controlled by food and weight, but I once did and I hope that someday soon I will again. I still have a way to go but I am healing! I am the happiest I have ever been. If someone had told me that night that I would be able to engage in conversations, laugh at jokes, look in the mirror without crying, walk up the stairs without fainting, go out and get drunk with my friends, sit down with my family to eat a meal and begin travelling again, I would have laughed at the sheer impossibility of it all. But guess what? All of those things have happened since then! And now I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel that once seemed so definitively dark and desolate. 

Please reach out for help. You do not deserve this pain and your suffering should not be in silence. It's ok not to be ok but it is absolutely NOT ok to do nothing about it. As a species, us humans are not doing too ok and that is ok! If we were we wouldn't have overflowing psychiatric hospitals, countless therapy centres and numerous mental health campaigns. Your feelings are valid but that doesn't mean they are true and deserving of inflicting pain. If you or anyone you know is in pain, scared, suffering, lonely, sad, angry, addicted or hurting please please please do not suffer in silence. Reach out for help, talk to someone. 

Click here for a list of various numbers, emails and websites which you can reach out to for help, advice or comfort.

Don't know what to say? Click here to learn about how you can help others through their pain.

Overcoming Obstacles

'If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.'

Here are some things I focus on to help me climb my mountains. I hope they help you too, whatever your 'mountain' may be.

'It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.'

Take Baby Steps

Have you ever heard of someone climbing Everest in a day? Just like experienced mountaineers, we too can not expect ourselves to race up our 'mountains' just because we may expect ourselves to be capable of dealing with it or because we may see others who can overcome their own difficulties. A lady once told me, 'Baby steps Lauren, don't worry about the thought of running before you can even walk. Take each challenge as it comes and focus on the task at hand. Baby steps, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time and you will climb your mountain'. As you slowly inch forwards, focus on each step you are taking with all of your awareness and attention. Try not to look up or down, behind you or in front of you. Avoid comparing yourself to other mountaineers and or previous battles you yourself have won. Always remember, that if the 'now' you are experiencing is unpleasant, it will not last forever. 'Your current situation is not your final destination'. It's so simple to become overwhelmed by all of the challenges that may lie ahead, instead, try and place all of your energy in the task at hand. Try to deal with what life throws at you when it throws it!

Ask For Support

Ropes, maps, compasses, boots and oxygen are some of the many things that people need when they are climbing cliffs. We are the same, we can not climb our own mountains alone. We need help and support and that is ok. Talk to someone, reach out for advice, gain a different perspective, open up to support, choose to accept help. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of true and solid strength. Weakness is climbing mount Everest alone, barefoot and naked..oh and you also left your glasses at home! Now that's just silly, so how can we expect ourselves to do the same? 

Get Lost

'Not all those who wonder are lost'. Some of the most beautiful paths in life can not be discovered without getting lost. Perhaps you could take a step off the beaten track and try something different, something new, as you face your obstacles. It's ok to get lost and it's ok to feel scared, sometimes, it's even better to linger and immerse yourself in the journey for a while before you reach your final destination. You never know what you may discover about yourself and the world. Be open to new ideas and different paths. Take the road less travelled and who knows what may happen! Read my blog post 'Lose Yourself to Find Yourself' to gain a deeper insight into the value of feeling lost.

Enjoy the View

While progress is important, it isn't everything. Take time to relish in all you have achieved so far in your life. It can be so easy to get caught up in work, goals and projects that sometimes we forget to actually live. Find a balance between complacency and over exertion; work hard at school, college or work but also, in balance, relax and do things you love to rejuvenate and reward yourself. You deserve it, I promise. This is your blessing to please do something nice for yourself today.

The Final Destination 

Something I am recently beginning to understand is that the journey never ends; perhaps there is no final destination. What goes up most come down, when you think you have climbed your mountain, suddenly, you realise you have to crawl your way back down or maybe there's an even greater mound that needs mounting. I am trying to learn to accept that this is the process of life; you think nothing more could go wrong yet suddenly the Universe decides to upheaval your plans again or throw you a curve ball. Luckily, you get to decide whether you view these changes as tormenting or exciting! In Maslow's hierarchy of needs he expresses how as one need is fulfilled, us humans move on to try and fulfil the other. We are living on the constantly growing and evolving conveyer belt that is Earth and if we can come to accept and let go to the truth that uncertainty and change is the very essence of life itself and nothing is permanent then perhaps we can learn to enjoy experiencing the journey rather than worrying about the destination a little more! 

'Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.'