The 10 Truths of Living I Discovered while Wandering Warsaw

Wonderful Warsaw

Today marks the last day of my journey. Versed well in time and travel’s fleeting nature there wasn’t a moment the abrupt reality this day and I would soon collide escaped me.

By the way, if you ever get the chance to visit Warsaw I highly recommend doing so. The city is different than many I’ve seen in Europe. There is undoubtedly a deference for the past seen clearly in the Warsaw Castle, The Royal Square, and Old Town.

But walk a little further and there is most definitely an eye to the future seen through the sleek glass windows of skyscrapers just a stone’s throw from the cobblestoned streets and cathedrals.

Similar to Budapest, the history here has clearly shaped its modern day outlook. To know Warsaw one must understand its violent and tragic past. You’ll find placards describing the bombing, siege, and uprisings that occurred here during World War II. And for those who don’t know, Warsaw was the city where the Nazis established the largest ghetto in all of Europe.

As I studied the black and white images dating back to the fall of 1939 I couldn’t even begin to imagine what occurred just 75 years before.

Dining Polish Style

Later in the day, I stopped at a restaurant serving, yes, Polish food. Something I’d tragically never done.

For years while living in New York I’d stroll past a restaurant called, Little Poland but never mustered the courage to set foot inside. Maybe it was because in all my jaunts past this East Village eatery I never once saw anyone inside. I suppose the giant “C” rating from the New York Department of Health didn’t instill much confidence either.

But while in Warsaw I decided to take my chances. I took a seat near the window overlooking Nowy Swiat Street and started off by ordering some pierogies for the first time. I joked to the waiter that everyone probably ordered the exact same thing, which he promptly confirmed to be the case.

Afterwards, I walked past the Chopin Museum who is as revered here as The Beatles and sliced bread. I then made my way to The Palace of Culture and Sciences.

My 10 Truths

Most of the day’s thoughts were tangled with both the journey’s imminent end but more interestingly the lessons I’d discovered along the way.

It seemed these revelations had been biding its time choosing to make a dramatic last-minute appearance. As I’ve prefaced I don’t claim to have all the answers, or any really, but in no particular order here are my truths:

1. No matter my relationship to religion, Catholicism, God, spirituality, whether strained or harmonious I will always love the scent that greets you when entering a church. The mingled smell of oak and incense has always slowed down time for me, offering a rare moment of tranquility, whether the tabernacle sits in mid-town Manhattan or on the secluded Isle of Iona. It is from this place an invitation to openness and flexibility in thought has always been extended to me.
2. Having a sense of purpose is paramount to living a fulfilled life. It does not matter who you are or where you reside, if your day-to-day life is not filled with the notion that your life serves another’s in some small capacity you can travel to the ends of the earth only to discover prosperity of mind will elude you. A beachfront property in Croatia, nor weaving through the narrow streets of Sofia in a fancy sports car will suffice. If you haven’t found your purpose then by all means keep looking.
3. I believe most people know what they want out of life but are afraid to admit it to themselves and thus take action.
4. The world has taught me we are all different and the same. We are all linked by the human condition and I’m confident each of us ultimately wants: To love. To be loved. To feel a sense of purpose. To feel significant.
5. It’s true what they say about time. It does fly but even faster and less apologetically than advertised. Proceed accordingly.
6. Be very selective with whom you share your dreams with.
7. It matters what people think and it really doesn’t.
8. Most people do not go the extra mile to see an endeavor all the way through; tragic because it’s rarely as far away as we think.
9. Whoever told you that you have all the time in the world lied to you.
10. Living life on your own terms, which is to say a life of nonconformity is like any other meaningful pursuit. It takes practice and time to hone your craft. But in time, you slowly get better and better, eventually skilled at shooing away the chatter and noise of those who project their own fears and failures upon you. The notion that you must live a certain type of life wanes in its ability to ruffle you because you have become a master craftsman in living life the way you see fit.    

Go Forth

There is an addictive quality about globetrotting. There are moments when you wish it would never end. There is a perennial sense of adventure in discovering new places and meeting interesting people.

A feeling of expectation and even a rare comfort in the unknown can also make you feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities. One wishes they could live 10 lifetimes to ensure more time to see it all — to be anywhere and everywhere at once.

The world I’ve discovered is a very big place.

Still, as much as I am a proponent of travel I must say the sense of adventure need not begin in an unfamiliar country. As writer George Moore once said, “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

Begin first where you are and slowly work your way out.

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