Intersections

This past year was full of adventures: I registered for and ran my very first races, one of them a half marathon -13.1 miles.  Hello! Freakin' awesome!! I decided to finish a degree begun almost 30 years ago. I managed to hold it together personally although not all of the characters in my passion play are kind or fair, and most important my beloveds are all OK and moving forward in their own way. While some of the things that happened this year were not foreseen, most occurred as a result of not wanting to stay where I was, not wanting to be sedentary, or not wanting where I am right now to be the epilogue of my story. For me, the biggest obstacle to accomplishing anything is a willingness to take responsibility for the "now". Every day we are faced with decisions that will either propel us forward or put another staple in our familiar.


It's like coming to an intersection. Some have lights that tell us when, where, and how to move and others are blind where you have to pause and wait your turn before proceeding.  I have grown from them both.   I'm grateful for the traffic lights that told me specifically when to start and stop providing safe passage when and if I was smart enough to listen and I learned to trust my instincts at the ones without them, depending on faith and discernment to get from one point to the next.   Each cross was worth it. Each intersection showed me something about myself, the people around me or how  I choose to live, and each one moved me a little bit further than I had been before.   You have heard me say before "...a baby step is still a step..."  Small victories count.  Maybe your year has been the same.


I saw a meme that read "This time next year you will wish that you started today," That is 100% true. I am thankful for every new beginning that I  had this year and equally as thankful for the "endings" because even though something that I loved, wanted or hoped for stopped or ceased to exist in the way that I was used to, I learned that I can get through it and still land on my feet.


Here's the thing: Over the next 12 months we are going to come to many intersections- some will have signals telling us exactly what to do and when to do it. Others will require tapping into our experiences, character, and integrity to get from one place to the other. If you are standing at an intersection right now I hope you step off the curb. I hope you throw caution to the wind and go from what you are used to to what's on the other side because your life is over there. If we are committed to seeing good things happen this year let's accept that almost everything where we are right will be a part of our past and sometimes we have to let those things go to move forward.  It may be scary to step off the curb into something new, especially with so much of life rushing by, but there is nothing to be gained by staying put. Everything that you want in life is in your forward press. Look both ways, yes - but then take a deep breath and RUN.