From my drafts, written July 2014:
You had a nightmare. In it, you were not happy with your life. You wake up, knowing this has been weighing on you, knowing that something needs to change, and that you need to listen to your heart once and for all. You owe it to yourself, if no one else. You make the scary, heartbreaking (at the time) change and now you’re a really happy person and are confident in your place in life. You feel the love you’d dreamed of all your life.
You get the offer of a lifetime, except it’s in a different city. Halfway around the country, actually, in a different timezone. You don’t know but a couple people there. You get another offer close to home. WOW! How lucky… You really want the first job. Your heart is telling you it’s where you ought to start your career and that opportunity is knocking on your door. You cried so much thinking you wouldn’t get this opportunity and yet here you are crying because you are afraid to move. You know you have to follow your heart, so you do and you are so grateful you did.
You party like it’s 2008. Sloppy, drunken nights ensue whenever you go out with friends, which isn’t that often anymore. The issue is it’s not 2008 now. Now, you’re an adult. You have responsibilities. You live in a big city. You’re in a serious relationship. Alcohol feels like enemy whenever you indulge in it. Your heart has been telling you it’s time to move on. You haven’t listened because FOMO a.k.a. Fear Of Missing Out [on fun]. But life’s shown you that way just doesn’t fit in anymore. You don’t need anything but yourself, good music and/or company to have fun. Life’s more memorable this way, anyway, and your heart will be happier.
People sometimes say listening to your heart is a bad thing–that doing so causes irrational decision-making because it is fueled by emotion. I’m here to tell you quite the opposite. I wouldn’t do anything but listen to my heart because it has led me to
where I am
who I am, and
the life I live today.
And I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.
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