Oh, The Places You'll Go!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

You're on your own.  And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

    Have you ever read this one? I've heard a lot about it and I'm a huge fan of The Seuss, but for some reason I've never read this particular story. My brain had been rattling quite a bit as of late and this phrase just kept popping into my head. "Oh, the places you'll go, Oh, the places you'll go." So I thought I would sit down and see what The Doctor had to say about where it was I would be going. And I must say, you should never underestimate the lessons that can be learned from children's books. They are often filled with the most basic of things that we "adults" tend to forget. Like how sometimes all we need to do is be a little more polite, or how a bit of kindness can create for us the most amazing of things. Or how even just having the tiniest bit of confidence in ourselves, can change everything completely.

    I touched on this a bit in a previous post, but as with anything we sometimes forget to practice what we preach. I said that I wished more people would follow their heart, that they would shoot for the stars even if it meant that they might miss. I've always believed that. I have always believed that there is nothing that one cannot accomplish so long as they have poured their heart into it. And yet I needed a simple children's story to remind me how to do that. 

It is always the little things.

    My husband and I have what I like to call adventurous spirits. We have stood against many hardships in the five years that we have been together. We have felt defeated, we have been disappointed. More than once, our hard work was thrust back into our faces by a vengeful fate. And at the end of each of those days we would always know that it was only for the moment that we would have these hardships, that it would not last forever and our trials would come to pass. I think it was being reminded of this lesson so often, for so long, that has allowed us to harbor such open minds to the opportunities that life has brought, and will continue to bring, upon us. 

    Since having a family, we have started weighing our options more carefully. We have had to make choices that once would have been very simple, and think them through, making sure that it was worth the risk. You never want to put all of your eggs in one basket and then realize you sold the chicken. I do believe though that you should never allow your position in life to hold you back. I think sometimes people get caught up in the simplicity of it all; Marriage, children, family. We settle down where we are comfortable, with what we know, and never realize that maybe we should be somewhere else, doing something else. It's realizing that is what is hard. Then acting on that realization, which is harder.

    I think that the hardest thing about life changes is when you start to know that certain situations, people, places, are only appropriate to your life for a certain amount of time. For some people it may be that that amount of time is a lifetime, for others it may only mean a couple of years. I think it is important though, to know that a decision isn't always meant to last a lifetime. That it is okay that it only suits your purposes for that moment. It doesn't make you indecisive, it only makes you realistic. 

    I guess I am just being more reflective as our family, once again, stands on the cusp of our future fate. As we decide the things that will forever change the course of our lives. Many we know will never understand us or our choices, some will envy our ability to take that leap into the unknown, but I think all will relate to the feeling of knowing that where we are is not where we were meant to be.

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!