Not all who wander are lost

Not all who wander are lost - Timeless quote for all humanity

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.^[1]

 

 - Poem by JRR Tolkin

These words - not all who wander are lost can and does have many interpretations, the above mentioned poem by JRR Tolkien is where it originated from, but many adaptations of these words have been mentioned.  I think this is truly something that has a specific and different meaning to everyone - W all have a path in life and a responsibility towards ourselves to fulfill our unique destiny, the definition of this destiny is very different to everyone of us. I may feel my destiny is to be Queen, but my brother may feel his destiny is to be at home and provide emotional support for my grandparents.

Our life on earth is all about choices and every decision we make has a consequence, the career we choose, the person we decide to marry and what we take into our bodies. We need to respect and appreciate one another’s differences and choices, this is particularly difficult for parents when their children make choices that they are not comfortable or happy with or does not conform to their social or other status in life.

Human beings judge and condem one another so easily, without any factual information or just by looks, language and colour, this is an age old dilemma and even though South Africa has come along way in this, we have a long way to go in understanding and respecting choice and space of others.

So in a way we all wander this earth, some of us seem to or believe to have more purpose than others but at the end of it all we are all wanderers on a path of our own but we still need one another to attain whatever goals we have for our own lives.

Perception plays a big role in the above mentioned poem as well, we are all so easily fooled by what we see and perceive that we are actually so blind. Let us practice tolerance and respect and teach this to our children as well.

Love

Tanya B