No one really knows what their life plan is going to work out to be, no matter how many goals are written on the vision boards, no matter how many years of education are brought to the table of learning and no amount of our own will power is going to change the course of our lives as much as we want to believe otherwise. We teach our little children that they can be anything in the world they desire to be if they work hard enough to earn it or believe in their own abilities.
Life starts out generally speaking, rosy and then the world tilts on its axis and perspectives change. Faced with daily decisions that each alter the outcome of our days, some days are joyously gentle, and others leave us breathlessly anxious.
Here’s the cool thing though. The education is marvelous if given the opportunity and life skills without the formal education can teach just as much. Each person you get the chance to meet and spend time with, however easy or difficult the conversation, offers a slightly different take on what you thought you believed before the introduction. We have such an opportunity to engage with others and opt IN to a dialogue that just might be the beginning of a road less traveled and much more entertaining.
We are all a culmination of our circumstances and experiences. Choices that we make, good or bad, create the character we behold. I’ve made some incredibly hurtful decisions in my life, but God extended to me the same mercy I try to offer those who need it the most. The choice becomes yours of whether to enlighten or burden. To openly listen to, or to close the door to your heart. To hug, even in our minds, or to slap, even if they never knew.
Never in a million years did I think I’d be a wedding venue owner, much less one for going on 19 years. But I’ve learned from and earned a PhD in social interactions with people from all walks of life and I’m here to tell you, that it’s worth the unconventional path I wound up taking. wound up taking. People are worth the risk. Even if and especially if, they don’t think exactly like you do. Love ’em all.
Elaine
“Instead of a person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others” – Philippians 2:4
