Spring is in full bloom in my hometown of St. Louis – red buds, magnolias, cherry trees – each sight more lovely than the last. This is a significant time of renewal for most of us, I think – at least it has been for me for the last dozen years or so.
One year I’d had my head down in work all winter, arriving at and leaving from the office in the dark. One April day I had a meeting an hour away, and in that precious time in the car I saw a world that had turned without my even realizing it. I called a girlfriend back at the office: “There are LEEEEEEAVES ON THE TREEEEEES,” I wailed.
Of course, it took me another decade to make the lifestyle change that would allow me to see the seasons turn live and in real time, but the lessons of that Spring awakening never left me.
I’m asked often: How do you know when the time has come to make a big life change? How do you know if you’re ready? How do you know whether you can do it, whatever the “it” is?
Age old question, right?
Of course, the answers are different for each of us. Some of us are like tumbleweeds and made to move on. Some of us have a greater tolerance for bullshit and can hang on longer to bad situations. But, eventually, YOU JUST KNOW.
You’ll know when you no longer like your life – or, worse, no longer like yourself.
You’ll know when you realize that the fear of an uncertain future is far less daunting than the dreadful pain of sitting still.
You’ll know when you can no longer accept crying yourself into madness… or eating yourself into bigger clothes… or drinking yourself into oblivion… or hiding out in plain sight.
You’ll know when your body shows you the way: the gnawing pain in the gut… the circles that darken under sleepless eyes… the eyes that cry buckets and rivers… the petulant feet that refuse to step one in front of another, or the brave ones that carry us fleeing to a safer place but then can’t stop running.
Trust me on this. YOU’LL JUST KNOW. And when the time is right, you’ll be ready to act.
I hope it doesn’t come to a crisis point for you, though. I hope you’re more in tune with yourself than I was all those years ago, and that you’ll listen to the early warning signs so that you can move from a place of desire, not desperation. Because running toward the light is much more satisfying than running from the dark.
