Unfamiliar Crossroads

There is something about the unknown that is both thrilling and terrifying. As a child, I longed for the familiarity of home, and dreaded change, that great disrupter. Slight changes—new scenery, staying the night at a friend’s house, or an impromptu adventure—were always welcome, but lasting change, one hinting at forever or no turning back, was the monster sleeping beneath my bed at night. Divorce. Death. Moving. Growing up. Those fears were real and far more frightening than any scary movie.

As I’ve grown older, I find it easier to embrace change. Experience breeds confidence. But even now, whenever I embark on a new journey, I still feel a sense of my old childhood fears. What am I doing? How will this turn out? Taking the first step into the unknown is always wobbly at best and all you can ever hope for is that no matter how old you are or where you end up in life, you’ll always be willing to take the path closest to your heart, not the one closest to comfort.

That you will dare. Get back up from your failures and defeats and endure. That, when faced with unfamiliar crossroads and no easy direction, you’ll step out of the ordinary and discover something new about yourself. And when you stand atop that beautiful mountain you once feared climbing, you’ll look back and think to yourself, what was all the fuss about?