Your Messy Life Is More Enviable Than You Realize
For starters, you’ll have a more fascinating autobiography than those who follow the straight and narrow path through life.
It’s true, you know. People look at you in awe, wishing they had even a small percentage of the courage you have.
You know those people in your circle that have played it safe, figured out how to earn money at one job that pays for the life they’ve chosen, and never had a day of soul-searching indecision or overwhelming fear about making a change.
I know people like this, too. I used to think how much better they were at life than I am. I would sometimes think how wrong I’ve been with my non-linear career and continued shifts in my life direction in search of more satisfaction and joy.
I’d think, “Sally, why can’t you be more like them and just choose a well-worn path to security and a stable, predictable life?”
But here’s what I’m finding out as life goes on and decades pass: many of these stable and secure people think I’m the one that’s got life all figured out!
Change That’s Natural To You Is Terrifying For Most
If this sounds like you, then we are a lot alike.
You’ve made several career changes or perhaps have always been driven by an artistic muse that kept you from working in any “paycheck job” for very long. At times, you’ve been absolutely positive that the work you’re passionate about is THE thing- only to later move all of your attention to your next big passion.
You’ve also moved around to different apartments, homes, and cities- maybe even across continents.
You’ve loved and lost and learned to love again.
You are not one to shy away from a new opportunity or a new life adventure if you feel it’s going to bring you satisfaction and happiness.
You are so curious about so many things that you never find yourself bored and often enjoy having alone time to pursue your many interests.
Your life is interesting!
You’ve done, seen, felt, and experienced things along your unpaved, winding path through life that those on the paved road can only imagine. Many people are amazed that you can not only think about choices that will improve your life but then take the action to make those choices part of your life experience.
You are a doer, not just a talker.
You and I are among the minority in this world who don’t let fear or lack of a known outcome stop you from starting. Others are afraid to live as you do.
Taking A Path Less Chosen Has A Great Reward
You may not realize it, but people around you think you are an amazing, badass explorer and they could never do what you’ve done. Nor what you will do in the future.
Maybe it’s part of my reward for reaching what I like to call “mid-life,” but in the last few months I’ve heard people describe me as “amazing” and “trail-blazing.”
They’re talking about me? I’ve had a life so non-linear my path looks like an Etch-A-Sketch gone amuck. I’ve always felt that when I told people what I’m doing next, they would stare at me and say nothing. Just gave me a look of non-comprehension.
But for some people when reaching a certain age, I think the well-worn, sure-thing path has become a bit boring, too predictable. What seemed like a no-drama way to live happily ever after winds up with more chapters than the plot left in the story.
And, making changes and taking risks are difficult skills to pick up when you’ve lived much of your life playing it safe. I’m glad I’ve always been fearless, but not absolutely reckless, about making changes because it comes easily to me.
So for those of us who’ve been curious, adventurous, risk-taking, change-grabbing explorers of all of the dirt and rock-strewn paths we felt were important to the journey, we are the ones getting it right.
Our lives are filled with experiences and memories that no book needs to tell us about, and we know how to jump on that new path that appears when our heart tells us it’s the way forward.
What This Means To You
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s not easy to pick the more challenging path toward the life you want- whether it’s choosing a career with no sure guarantees for success, ending or starting a relationship that you feel will make you happier, or moving to a new place where you don’t know anyone.
But when something in your heart tells you that you just must do this or choose this, keep pushing aside fear and comparison with others and continue on your path.
You’ll never regret trying, whether you succeed as you dreamed or succeed in a totally unforeseen way. And the more you try, the easier it gets to try again.
Would you like to receive a weekly reminder of all you can do to create a positive mindset? Click on this link to sign up for my free newsletter from LifeUpcycles. https://bit.ly/3ynCNP
