Movement

I read a story the other day that started out with a quote from Albert Einstein that said, "The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe."

She then told her story of how she lived in a run down, unsafe apartment when she first moved to LA. How she lived with a bank account in the negatives for years with barely having enough food to eat but it ended up being worth it. She eventually worked her way out of this apartment. She pushed through the bad days and the feeling that what she was working for was never going to happen. She talked of a night when she had not a penny to her name and crumbs as food. On that night she read the quote from Albert Einstein and discussed how it changed her perspective of her situation. Instead of allowing the pits of which she was living in to consume her, she changed her perspective and allowed it to help her move forward.

As I read this story, I thought about how unsafe her life was at the time. She spoke of the neighborhood and how she would park her car blocks away from her apartment and run to her home, because she was afraid of what would happen to her car if she park it at the complex. I thought about how she had to adjust her life knowing the risk she was living in. It blew my mind that she even considers taking the risk. She literally risked her life and her sanity in hopes that she will one day do what she loves to do.

This quote and this story brought a whole new perspective to my day. I had had a day that was filled with worries and mistakes. Tears filled my eyes at one point because I could barely handle the knots that were tied in my stomach. I felt my shoulders rise as I realized I might have made a major mistake.

Then I read this quote and story. It made me realize that apart of this journey is going through the dark ally of fear, willingly walking into the unknown knowing we could be hurt or damaged. It's about believing that their is a goodness out there greater than those dark allies, the mistakes we make, the pits we find ourselves in. 

Goodness is alway bigger than the bad. Goodness will eventually win.

It made me realize that if we want to live a life of safety, we have to kiss our dreams goodbye. We have to be willing to be miserably complacent in exchange of knowing we will never be hurt. To live a life full of dreams and joy means you have to live in the worn down apartment. It means you have to cry when everything is falling apart, for in those moments we ultimately have a choice whether to believe those moments define our lives or they are just dark shadows passing in a world full of beautiful light. 

Bad days will come no matter what but ultimately we have to decide if we want to take the risk of unsafe bad days in order to keep moving forward or be content in the safe bad days of never moving and never growing.

In a world where we can have whatever we want with just a few swift movement of fingers on a key board, it's easy to believe dreams can be accomplished in the same way. It's easy to fall into the trap of complacency and build a home there. 

One thing I love about my career choice is that I get to hear people's stories. I get to hear the ups and the downs of people's lives. I love hearing about people's lives and what they have encountered. The stories I find most fascinating are the ones where people took risks. They decided something for themselves then they just started walking in that direction, not always knowing where they are going or if they are taking the right steps. They just start moving. 

And THAT has been the common denominator. MOVEMENT.

You have to move. You have to be willing to make mistakes. Without those risk, you will find yourself in a miserably complacent life. And out of all things I believe, I DO NOT believe we were made for a miserably complacent life. I believe we were made to accomplish dreams. I believe we were all put here to continue moving and continue growing. The hardest part most of the time is to just. start. moving.