This journey I have been on for the last year plus has taught me so much about myself, life, and my way of living. It has caused me to look within more than I ever thought I would or should. This year has taught me to look at myself and life differently. I had to basically take everything I knew about myself and throw it out the window. And I am glad I did. My life has changed in so many ways that I never thought it would or could. Yet it has and then some.
It was not easy to get to where I am today. It has taken me a long long time to get to where I am today. I failed more times than I could count. I got sidetracked many a time and out off till tomorrow more times than I will admit. There was many times I quit and gave up on it all. Through it all, the ups and the downs there was one constant that I always had to do, I had to take that leap of faith. Regardless of what that leap was or where it would take me. I had to take it. I had to jump. The journey of a thousand miles always starts with that first step. The first step is the scariest, and the hardest to take. Yet if we want anything in our life we must take that step.
The other day when I went roller skating for the first time in twenty plus years I was reminded, I have to take that step. I have to choose life, in this case something new, over fear. I could not let fear consume me and cause me to not do it. I am glad that I chose to do this, and chose to try it, and had fun in the process. Had I not taken that first step to take myself out places I would never have been able to get to that place to try it. I would have just sat on the sidelines and let life roll past me on roller skates. Life is not about sitting on the sidelines, it’s about exploring, and learning, and growing. Will we always succeed at after thing we do, no, but we still made the effort to try it, and at the end of the day, we can smile happily knowing we tried it and did our best. If we fall down, we can pick ourselves up and try it either again or something else.
This year has shown me how amazing life can be and that it can surprise you in more ways than you thought or even dreamed of. I never thought I would be able to, or even knew how to, it would have been so much easier to just say no, or make an excuse. Yet I took those leaps anyways. I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. I took myself further and further. Pushing the bar more and more. Doing so has changed myself and my view of life and living. It has given me experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. Now when I look back fondly over my life I can see that I have for the first time ever accomplished much in life and will accomplish more when I continue to take those leaps.
When it’s all said and done we can then look back at life, smile, and have no regrets, because we leaped. We tried. And we did. We did plenty. Life was good. Life was fun.