Changing Roads

Morning!

Many years ago, through relentless persistence, I landed what I thought was my dream job. You see I understood “The Secret” long before it became a movie. In fact, there is nothing I have put my attention on seriously that I have not achieved.

My dream job lasted all of six weeks. I was not fired, I fired myself. Although the job only lasted six weeks, the affect it had on me for years was devastating. It was a defining moment and not in a good way. My faith and confidence in me was shaken. I forever judged myself and tried to make sense of what happened. As a result, I stopped trusting me. Everything I stepped into from then on was done with uncertainty and I then let my own internal naysayers take hold from there.

As a result, I fell into a deep depression and gave up on dreaming. With no goals and no direction I let life knock me around. I began taking temporary jobs anywhere and sometimes spent my lunch hour crying and asking God for guidance. Not long after, I received a one-day temp assignment and this note was tacked to the wall in the cubicle where I sat. “"Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that as well." Maya Angelou”

I stopped breathing and actually looked around to see if this was a joke. Wow. I asked and God really answered. I have read, so I thought, everything Maya Angelou ever wrote and never saw this quote before. It was so personal and so right for me. I learned so many things from that so-called “dream job.”

Today, I welcome change and a chance to take roads uncharted. I walk away from these experiences with baggage that is worth carrying and leave the stuff that doesn’t serve me behind. Change is not and never will be easy but it’s the only way to get new results and a life worth living.

Right now, you and I are at the intersection of life and the stop sign is down. Do you want to keep doing things in the same way or do you want to live your life differently? Make a change.

“What kind of life do you want to live and how close are you to living it? ~Oprah Winfrey~