I remember the scene well: Strolling on a San Francisco beach with a girlfriend, lamenting the exhausting and never-ending struggle to balance career and family. At one point, I saw a little boy frolicking in the surf, letting out happy squeals as his mom threw him up in the air. I burst into tears.
“THAT’s what I want,” I cried. “I’m just not happy.”
“THEN DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT,” my wise friend said. “And if you don’t like it, do something different again.”
I must have looked at her like she had a thousand heads. “Do something different???” But I’d built a life around what I’d always been doing.
In the span of a heartbeat, the power of those three little words opened up whole my life. They gave me PERMISSION. POWER. FREEDOM.
I got butterflies at the possibilities… and get them still at the memory. Truly a pivotal moment.
We kept walking that morning, and at the end of the beach we saw a giant sphere with little bits of inspiration plastered all over it. The fortune in the second photo was the first thing to catch my eye: “Life is a series of choices. Today yours are good ones.”
So I chose. I leapt. I followed the voice in my heart. I traded the career that made me batty for a life of exploration and writing and teaching yoga. And here we are.
I won’t lie and say it’s been completely easy. There’s a lot of fear that goes along with trying new things, and there have been trade-offs. I’ve given up income and the security it brings. But I’ve more than made up for it in what I’ve gained.
A sense of peace.
Better defined priorities.
Clearer purpose.
Plus, I now have the good fortune be with the thousands of people who are part of the You Are Not Stuck community. <3
Remember, we are darn lucky to HAVE choices, we just have to be brave enough to MAKE them.
You can do it. You can live the life you most deeply desire. You are not stuck!
