Every year I go into my doctors office for a check up at the end of September. Last year, I was in a serious transition in my life at that time.
I had recently left my 7 year stint with one business. I poured my heart and soul into that business because I thought it was my future.
Well, I was wrong.
There I stood with ALL of the options in front of me. Thinking that I HAD to make a decision, and FAST.
Do I find a similar gig in another automotive shop?
Do I follow the vendor sales route I had flashed in front of me like a shiny new penny?
Do I just take a lower paying job to make ends meet?
OR do I follow that gut feeling? That thing I can’t seem to ignore. Do I look down that hallway that I’ve been steering clear of, but kept calling to me?
As I sat in the doctors office that day, all of these options were weighing on my mind…
The doc walks in, shakes my hand and asks how I’m doing.
(Sidenote, my doctor is a worldly man. He’s the kind that is on one hand, very prestigious and polished but on the other he’s the kind of man that has created his own reality and does what he wants, when he wants to. The kind with that contagious energy about him.)
The next question he asked me was, “Have you been anywhere fun since I last saw you a year ago?”
Kind of thrown off by this question because I never had time to do anything outside of work, I said “no, not really”
Then he really puzzled me when he asked “Why?” in a very ‘matter of fact’ way.
My response was “I’ve just been working constantly. That takes up most of my time”
At that moment, he stopped what he was doing..looked me square in my eyes and said:
“Life is too short. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years it’s that you need to experience everything you can. And traveling new places is the best way to do that”
Needless to say… I took those words to heart.
I stand here now, a year later and when he asked me that question this time I was able to give him a solid answer. I told him about the 7 trips I’ve taken this year and how I still have 2 more planned before the end of December.
I got a look of pure pride when he looked up at me, obviously surprised by my answer.
I walked out of that office to my car and thought about the drastic difference between the woman I am today and the woman I was a year ago.
I realized it’s because I finally peered down that hallway that was calling to me. Then I stepped into that room… Then I grabbed a sledge hammer and knocked down every single wall until it no longer resembled the box I had been stuck in.
I don’t stand in a room. Or a hallway. Or a box. I stand in a wide open space. No walls, no more limitations.
THAT is what has always been calling to me my whole life. And that is what I’ve created for myself.
I’m not saying that Dr. Rottlers comment to me last year is what stemmed all of this but it certainly did make me think. It made me look beyond the box I was living in. The box I fell into because, well.. that’s what we’re programmed to do.
I am so thankful for that realization. Being in an wide open space is what suits me, it’s where I belong. And after even just one year with truly no limitation, I have seen massive changes in me and in everything around me.
I can’t wait to see what else is to come as I continue to expand even more <3