CARPE DIEM!!

I was having a glass of wine with a good friend last week and we were essentially day dreaming about the summer opportunities ahead of us.  For some reason, though, I found myself feeling constrained.  The discussion was fun and carefree, but that intuitive 'gut feeling' inside of me didn't feel like I was in a position to be fully embracing the opportunities ahead.  I felt held back.  Why did my chest feel tight and the conversation feel bittersweet? 

I wasn't in a position to fully embrace these ideas and dreams because I was living an hour away from all of the excitement and feeling disconnected from the community in which I felt the most at home.  I currently live in a beautiful beach community surrounded by young families and restaurants that close around 8 PM.  I have felt a burning desire to move to a more metropolitan area for the last year or two, but have not brought it to the attention of my employers for fear that it would compromise my job.  Essentially, I was shoving on the glass slipper and saying "I am going to make this work -- the shoe will fit!"  But really, it was uncomfortable and not fitting quite right.

I was driving home and it hit me.  It was my 'Ah Ha!' moment.  I felt held back in life, but through no one's fault but my own!  If I want to position myself to embrace opportunity then that is up to me to decide and I cannot simply wait and hope that things will figure themselves out. 

The next day I went to lunch with my boss and calmly described my decision to move closer to the big city and crossed my fingers that it wouldn't get me fired.  To my surprise, he responded with excitement and acknowledgement that he had seen this coming for months.  Even he could see that I was struggling to make the shoe fit!  We worked out a plan to help with my new commute and within days I had identified a new place and a move date.

Since that moment I have been breathing easier, feeling more excitement for the opportunities ahead, and sometimes wondering why I didn't have the guts to make this decision earlier. 

To an extent, we are all still responsible for our own destiny in that we have the ability to make active decisions about our life.  Scratch that -- we have the responsibility to make active decisions about our lives!  Is there anything in your life that you suffocate or brush under the rug by associating it with words like "when" and "one day"?  If so, then I challenge you with this question:  What are you waiting for?!