“You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give.”—E. O. Wilson
Recently, my family was presented with the possibility for some dramatic changes in our lives. Change can be unsettling. Change is also an opportunity.
I should have seen this coming, as my thoughts have been on the very subject of path and where I am supposed to be at this point in my life. There is where we are, where we want to be, where we need to be, and where we are supposed to be. Ideally, these are in alignment.
It is my experience that it is the “want to be” that tends to be out of alignment with the others. It is our nature to think that things should be better—that the “grass is greener” somewhere else. I believe it is true that the grass can always be greener. The question for us is “which grass?” I would suggest that we make the grass greener where we are.
The notion that the grass be greener where we are is not to suggest we are to remain where we are. Rather, I suggest that we trust where we are and to where we are being led, i.e., carpe momento! With whatever our next step might be, we make this grass greener.
I could not have expected that my recent thoughts were preparing me for potential change. Nonetheless, here I am, stepping toward the unknown—the uncertain. In the past, I might have been overwhelmed with anxious thoughts. Instead, I was surprised by my increased sense of calm.
Who can know the degree to which change might come—today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year,…–or if change will come at all? There is nothing one can do to change tomorrow. It will be what it is to be. What we can do is be prepared for whatever might come.
There will always be an uncertainty about tomorrow. If one is certain about tomorrow, one is most likely to be disappointed. There is no certainty that tomorrow will even come for us, so live in the present. Certainly, prepare for tomorrow, but trust today. Live today the best you can. “Leave everything in this room.” Be better tomorrow.
Trust in your path. Step where life is leading you with confidence. See beyond what you can see—not to try to predict the future, but to understand the present. Understand that what you choose in the moment affects others far beyond yourself and events far into the future. You cannot control the future, but the moment is yours to affect. Trust where it is leading you.
I am uncertain about tomorrow. I may have to accelerate my growth plan—or perhaps it is better said that life is accelerating my growth. Either way, I have confidence in my path. I am grateful for the opportunities that are before me. Whether there is a fork in the path or some obstacles, I trust it is leading me to where I need, am supposed, and want to be.
Carpe momento!
“Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.”—Theodore Roethke