We build our life path by following roads. We make choices, and we follow roads that lead us to this or that. We follow the road, the path that we are on, and seemingly know which way it will lead. Sometimes, we may look back to where we came from- behind us down the path that holds our footprints.
And sometimes, we might try and climb a tree to see if we can tell what's in front of us; looking ahead to see if we can tell what obstacles that might be lying in wait for us.
But at certain points, as we walk along these life paths, we come to a crossroad.
We stand in front of a point in our lives that shows us another way. Another path that we could choose.
Sometimes, those roads may follow alongside our current path- running parallel, but never touching. Other times, the road may veer us off in a completely different direction- onto a completely different path that we weren't even able to get a glimpse of when we were up in that tree- trying to look ahead.
I recently came to one of these crossroads. One of these points where I needed to decide which path to continue on.
If you follow my blog, you may remember the post "The Passion for the Work Led me Here". In this post, I talk about how my passion for the work at Brain Fit Academy led me to take a leave of absence from my teaching job in order to concentrate more on the work I do at Brain Fit.
I wrote that post about 7 months ago. 7 months ago and my passion remains. In fact, I would say that my passion for the work has grown even stronger! 7 months of doing this job- this life-changing work, in the middle of a world-wide pandemic and my love for it has done nothing but grow.
And that leads me to tell you about my recent crossroads.
I found myself standing there. Looking out at a road that crossed right over the path that I was on.
The road- was my school. My teaching job.
I was presented with a choice to go back to my teaching job for the next school year in August, or resign.
I chose the latter.
I'm sure that many of you would agree that COVID-19 helped many of us to re-think our priorities in life. For me, I would say that that re-thinking started before the pandemic came into being, but I'm sure it helped solidify my decision in multiple ways. And, without going into too much detail, let me just say that things had changed. I wouldn't be going back to what I left in my teaching job. But for sure, I would be going back to kids and teachers that would need me more than ever outside of the school setting. Outside of that position and inside of Brain Fit and all that we do there.
I wasn't sure when I was going to be faced with these crossroads. I wasn't able to pinpoint where they were on the path ahead of me- even when climbing the tree to take a look. But once they were in front of me, right in front of me- I was able to see the pathway as clear as daylight laid out before me.
I looked behind and saw my footsteps- laden in the dirt. I looked ahead and saw the footsteps that are yet to come.
And then? I took a deep breath and stepped forward onto that crossroad. Onto that new path.
And you know what? I'm not even climbing the tree to see ahead or behind. I'm just taking steps.
I'm taking steps- one at a time-
With a huge smile on my face...
