I'll be honest, I am an options guy. Whatever it is that I decide to do, I always give myself an out, an escape route, an alternative, call it what you will. I never let myself get tied down into a situation from which I cannot extricate myself when it's necessary to move on. I'm committed just as long as it works for me. Commitment has never really been my forte. At least, that is one way to look at it, but that is not the complete picture, that is only one part of a greater story.
Let's talk about commitment. Sure, I've never been married. My relationship track history does not make for the most pleasurable of readings. Actually, it would be a pretty short coffee break type of read if I'm honest. And when I say coffee, I don't mean Sunday morning lounging around on a sofa with the papers in a cosy, stylish cafe, with notes of jazz mixing with the aroma and the ambiance. I mean more of a quick, blink and its gone espresso. I've lived in more places than I care to think about. I've had plenty of jobs and I've tried quite a few careers. I know many people in many countries around the world, in some way, I have touched the lives of thousands of people, yet my close friends number only a few. I can pack all of my belongings into a couple of suitcases that would fit into the back of a car. That's my flee mentality right there.
Then there are the things that I have deeply committed to in my life, like the pursuit of my dreams. Hang on though. You know what? Thinking about it right now, I see something more than the pursuit of my dreams. Suddenly, I see with absolute clarity my entire life history and the pattern therein. My life has been about more than my dreams, my life has always been about my heart. It is easy to confuse the two since our true dreams live within the heart, but there is more to the heart than only dreams.
I have always been emotionally connected. I never really understood this until quite recently. It doesn't just mean my emotions are on the surface (although they generally are), it means that I live through my emotions, I experience life through my emotions. The heart contains our emotions as well as our dreams. Our hearts are the windows to our souls, they represent the real, authentic you. The connection that I have to my heart is incredibly strong. It is truly my driving force. Everything I have ever done, every decision I have ever made, has been because of my heart. The voice of my heart is never quiet. Sometimes it whispers to me, other times it's like a sonic boom that explodes with such force that tears form in my eyes as a way of releasing the pressure. Oh yes, I cry a lot, both through laughter and through sadness. There was a time when I was ashamed of this, when I turned my face to hide my tears, but not any more. My heart really is everything to me. In fact, my heart is me and I am my heart. Our link inseparable. Even my signature, unknowingly to me for many years until someone pointed it out, contains a heart shape. I have needed to follow its calling, I could never escape it. It has led me on some of the most amazing adventures, to witness some of the most incredible things, to meet the most wonderful people, and it has led me to the pits of despair, to complete and utter hopelessness, where only sadness and pain were to be found.
Yet, I would never change my heart, I trust it completely. I am here right now because of it. Everything I have ever done has led me to this point and my heart has been leading me here in its own way, showing me all the things I needed to see, teaching me all of the lessons that I needed to learn, leading me to the people that I needed to help me along the way, always guiding me towards the inevitable. And here I am, finally after all of these years, faced with the inevitability of my life.
My heart is changing. I can feel it. There has been a subtle shift inside that tells me that things are different to how they used to be. My heart continues to speak to me and I to listen to its voice, but that voice is no longer urgent and incessant. It is no longer driving me onwards to the next place I need to be, because I am in that place. My heart is content. Tomorrow, I am stepping through the doors of a school classroom for the first time as a trainee school teacher. This has been my long held dream, the dream to which my heart was always leading me, subtly steering me and guiding me through the turmoil and turbulent waters, giving wind to my sail when the currents ceased, moving me ever on, inexplicably towards my destiny.
I am ready, finally ready to stop moving. I don't want to move again because I feel that I have come home. It's more than simply that though. I am ready to commit. Fully commit to my life, to the life I have always wanted, and the life that I have been denying myself for so long. I don't mind that it has taken me this long because I know deep down that I was never ready before, even though there were times when I wanted it so bad that I would have done anything to keep it. I couldn't have kept it before because my heart would have moved me on, just as it did, it had to move me on, I understand that now. Not this time. Here I am, tomorrow one of the longest held and one of my greatest dreams turns into reality. That is not the end because I have several more dreams. Tomorrow only marks the beginning. Without tomorrow, I will never realise those other dreams. To realise those, I have to stop moving, I have to let go of my options, I have to stop looking for the escape route. And you know what? I know that I will because my heart tells me that now is the right time. Commitment doesn't start with a 'C', it starts with me. And just for once, there is no plan B.
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