One day, you’re going to stand at a crossroad. To the left, the life you know: the safe, the comfortable, the familiar. To the right, the life you might live: adventure, possibility, unknown.
Maybe you’re standing there now. Maybe you’ve stood here before and made the choice that ultimately brought you back around to the same crossroad. Nevertheless, here you are.
And it doesn’t matter if you’re a stay-at-home mom thinking about going back to work and presenting a new model of motherhood to your children or if you’re a business person trying to decide if you want to leave the safety of corporate to build a business on your own. The choice is really: Will I choose to continue on with good? Or will I roll the dice and gamble for great?
The problem with this choice is that great isn’t guaranteed . . . or is it?
Yes, you could lose your life savings. But, are you saving for fun or familiar?
Yes, that new relationship could leave you heartbroken. But, is being single truly satisfying?
Yes, that trip abroad might not be as fun as you imagined it would be. But, wouldn’t you rather be enriched and enlightened than stay home and be bored?
What does that mean for your decision?
Does it mean that it’s better to wrap yourself in the comfortable conformity of life? I think it’s worth considering whether or not your life is really yours . . . one of your own choosing.
Your routine, your day in and day out, the spouse, the house, the job . . . are they all things that you actually want for yourself? Or are these the things that other people told you you should want? Did you buy into their dream or are you living your very own?
If you’re not really living the life that you want and you’re just going through the motions, how great would the loss really be if you rolled the dice and sought a life to love?
Let’s say you take the gamble and fail . . . exquisitely fail. It really wouldn’t be that hard to recreate mediocrity. I mean, look around you and take note of all the people excelling at ho-hum. It seems like you could rebuild a vanilla existence in about 15 minutes, 30 if you’re deliberately minding the details.
Now, all of this isn’t to say that your life is a waste if you’re not living in a mansion along the California coast. Your dream is distinct to you and different from everyone else’s. What it is to say is, “Are you awake in your living or are you sleepwalking through someone else’s dream?”
I ask this of you, because these are the questions I am asking of myself.
You see, I am once again at the crossroads.
Brene Brown writes about Theodore Roosevelt’s “daring greatly” quote and I know one thing for sure . . . I want to be IN the arena, “face marred with sweat and blood.”
I want to wake up every morning and chase a dream with eyes wide open and heart beating hard. I want to breathe adventure deep into my lungs and run full speed into the unknown.
What I do NOT want is to die knowing that I rode shotgun in my own life, “knowing neither victory nor defeat,” because someone else was driving my car.
And, perhaps, this is how great IS guaranteed.
Yes, I have cried 1,000 tears, been beaten, bruised and pushed around by life. But I have also been fully supported, lifted up and encouraged. I have laughed from deep within my soul and let my light shine on friends and strangers. And, even when it felt bad, it felt good . . . because I’m living out loud and not just going through the motions, keeping a safe and friendly distance.
This is why I dare to stand at my crossroads today and say, “I’m hanging a right.”
It’s frightening to set out on an adventure without a map. To journey towards an idea that’s on the horizon without knowledge of the terrain that stands between. And, while I am certain that I will roll my ankle and meet with snakes . . . I am equally certain that I will keep the company of angels and dance among fireflies along the way.
Will you join me in the search for adventure? Will you dare to lead a bolder, brighter, happier life? I need a good travel companion or two.
So, take a moment to envision your best life.
What do you see?
What’s your dream?
What will you do?
The Write Girl 