We each get one life, and it’s up to us to live it well.
This coming from the same person who quit her first career after a mere three months. The same woman who books ridiculous flights and plans spur-of-the-moment trips like it’s a paying job. The exact same woman who left a career she loved to pursue a life and a dream she loved even more.
When I left journalism, I was certain people would think I was a lunatic. Here I was, barely six months out from college graduation, leaving the career I’d studied and worked four years to begin. It’s the exact reason I didn’t quit at the one-month mark; the same reasoning kept me past the two-month mark.
But that third month (I’m just going to mention the biblical significance of the number 3 and let you sit with it), God let me go. It was in that third month - and the days and weeks that immediately followed - that I came to understand: God’s plans don’t always make sense.
I was reminded of that truth when I began working at a daycare - a job I said I would absolutely never do - for minimum wage. When a coworker found out I held a college degree, she looked at me and said, “You’re educated? Why the heck are you working here?” (Her exact words, hand to heaven. Neither of us look down on childcare workers [I say extra prayers for y’all because, whew! It’s tough work!])
I just laughed because I knew how crazy the story God had written sounded. I shared the brief version with her, and I’ll never forget her blank look of confusion mixed with just a hint of understanding.
But the understanding, no matter how little of it might have been present, is what I remember most.
She knew exactly the feeling I was talking about, the feeling that there’s more to life and work and day-to-day routines than what we realize. I saw a spark of a dream in her eyes without knowing any details whatsoever.
There exists this nonsensical myth that at some points it’s too late for a person to start over or quit or dream or just try. I call bull crap.
As long as there is breath in your lungs and a dream in your heart, go for it. It might sound a little cheesy, maybe a bit childish, but, good grief, so what? The worst that could happen is you fail. Then you’ll figure out how to get up again and keep going.
I know that there are different limitations for different people; we don’t live in an equitable society where everyone has the same means to drop something sure and steady and pick up something new and risky. It’s just not an opportunity that everyone can afford.
So help the people around you dream, too. Don’t just dream for yourself. Dream for others. Inspire them. Help them. Introduce them to people and resources that can benefit them. Take them along with you.
Dreaming by yourself is just no fun. It’s why Cinderella had her little bird and mice friends. It’s why Moana brought Hei Hei along for the ride when everyone else thought she was crazy. It why Elsa and Anna’s sister bond is so strong.
We need people (or critters, if applicable, I guess) alongside us, people who will push us forward and help us dream and believe and work to keep dreaming and going and doing.
I want to see everything there is to see in the world, so I talked with God and the people who love me most to find a way to make it happen. And, in my heart, I believe I’ve helped students, friends, family, and others around me realize - even if just a little bit - that they just might be able to do something crazy, too.
The points of my life don’t go in a straight, logical line, and I’m grateful. I’ll follow the path God has laid out for me, even when going forward looks a lot like going crazy.
Simply put: “Life loves the liver of it.” -Maya Angelou