journey

I have always been a bit fascinated by the differing journeys that life brings. How sometimes the journey is more exciting than the end, the preparation for a journey, the diversions you sometimes take. 367 days ago I started a new journey. The journey of a wife. There was a lot of preparation for this journey. I had been preparing for it long before I met the husband. Not preparation for the wedding day, but for being married. I was aware that if I ever wanted to get married I had to start thinking about the kind of wife I wanted to be, and work on becoming that person many years ago. Part of this came from observing other marriages, of knowing that the person I was before marriage would be the person I was in marriage and that my husband would deserve for that to be the best person I could be. There were also physical preparations for the journey. We had to prepare a home, prepare the wedding. These were mostly fun preparations. We also did marriage prep classes. We got to share the preparations with others. So now we are 367 days into the journey. A journey we chose to make. It has so far been a great journey of mutual love, support and tolerance. We are both constantly learning what it is to share in this journey, and my guess is that this learning will continue in some form for the rest of our lives. It is a journey with no destination, a journey to enjoy.

The other major journey I have been travelling recently has been that of illness. The preparation for this one was non existent. I never gave any thought before I was ill to what I would be like when I was ill, trying to hone my character to be the best ill person I could be. I didn't make any physical preparations. I had no sessions to help me learn how to be ill. I didn't prepare a place to be ill. I didn't talk to others about being ill. I didn't get ready for a special day on which to start being ill. It is a journey that came to me when I didn't expect it, that decided to take me along on it. And it has definitely been a harder journey than the one previously mentioned. People are happy to talk about relationships, about being married, about learning to live with one another, about getting through tougher times and celebrating great times. Many people have experienced this. People are less likely to talk about being ill. About coping with result this has on your mental health. Less people want to talk about what it is like to have days when leaving the house is the last thing you want to do, and sometimes physically can't do. Less people want to actively share this journey. They will say they are thinking of you, but don't come and sit with you, write to you, join you on the journey. I am thankful for the pocket of people who do. They brighten the journey. I am hoping that the journey of illness is one that will have an end. And if it does then I can certainly say that the destination will be better than the journey.