Wanting things to be different but not wanting to risk real change
Many people seem to be exactly in this spot right now. They want their lives to be different, richer, and have more meaning, yet are terrified to give up the things they have become accustomed to: large salaries, expensive toys, status and on and on.
Oriah Mountain Dreamer mentioned a poem by Adrienne Rich that defines this experience. It is called “Prospective Immigrants Please Note”. (Read the poem at: AmericanPoems.com)
Life presents us with doors to walk through. We never know who or where we will be when we pass through the door. This is true for every transition - marriage, having a child, changing careers or letting go of old beliefs about ourselves. We only get the door and the not knowing is terrifying.
Yet life itself is usually waiting for us on the other side.
We are taught that we must have a goal for our lives. We believe that, in order to achieve, we must take one wise step after another. Life “should” have a well-detailed path from birth through our excellent high school graduation on to a prestigious college education and then an enormously successful career.
But life usually only presents us with doors and one question, “Will you walk through?”
Filed under: Thoughts on being human....
