The Potential of the Unknown

Several years ago, I made the very difficult decision to leave the organization I was working for. The job no longer fit me and it seemed unfair, to both myself and the organization, to continue in a position that no longer felt right. I was scared. My whole identity had become wrapped up in who I was at work and what I did. My time there was spent well, caring for people, learning, and growing in so many ways. Never did I dream that the growth I was experiencing would soon lead me away and down a path to what felt like an uncertain future.

In the end, after agonizing about it to the point of making myself sick, I took the leap. A year of extremely unsettling uncertainty followed, but I knew deep down that if I had any chance of spreading my wings, this was the only way. Starting over wasn't easy.

Starting over is never easy. We long for what we know, even when what we know is binding us. But there is promise in standing on the cusp of the unknown; the promise of possibility. The promise of potential. The opportunity to construct and create the life we want for ourselves, one brick at a time.

There are a lot of stories just now about people having to start over and begin again because of jobs lost in this economy.  What I find inspiring about some of these stories is that people are finding themselves again. Long lost dreams are resurfacing and though finances are tight, the free time is allowing opportunities that simply weren't there before. People are choosing to consciously reconstruct their lives and it's exciting!

Sometimes, we outgrow jobs and relationships, and sometimes they crumble beneath us and we have no control. Either way, potential presents itself and we must choose how we will weave the threads together to create the tapestry of our future.

The following song is one I listened to over, and over, and OVER again as I wrestled with the decision to leave my job. I wept again as I listened to it tonight. I am grateful I had the courage to leap back then, and pray I will have it when it's next needed. Perhaps this will mean something to you.