Even the best moments in our lives are fleeting. Nothing lasts forever, even if we wish it would. In a way we're always moving on from something. Life is change. Sometimes we fight against that change or try to hold it back so that things can remain the same. We may be successful for a short time, but in the end the moment will come when it's time to move on. What we move on towards could be something good or it could be worse than what we currently have. Whatever the situation is though, this too won't last forever, although in some cases it may feel like forever. If you're fortunate enough to be moving onto something better, then hopefully you'll remember to enjoy it while it lasts. If circumstances have moved you into something that feels terrible, know that there is always potential for things to change again. The cynical side of me used to have a phrase "Nothing in life is so bad that it can't get worse". While that is technically true, it's also true that nothing in life is so perfect that it can't get better.
About three years ago I finally got to a point where I was just tired of feeling like things were never changing. People around me seemed to be having experiences, both good and bad. They say life can be a roller-coaster of emotions, but for me things felt stagnant. The highs felt muted and the lows, while bad, were seemingly insignificant because overall everything felt like it was lacking a true impact. These feelings had been there for years and like most people, I pushed them aside because as an adult we're often times forced to endure things we may not like. Part of being a responsible adult has always been doing what is necessary. So after much deliberation I made a change and walked away from nearly everything that I had established. Sure I had this partially formulated plan that I would return to school and potentially further myself both in education and career. Fast forward to now and I learned a lot, most of it not from college. The things I learned were those little life lessons that smack you in the mouth when you're not expecting it just to make sure that you remember it.
Those three years were actually exactly what I was looking for, even though there were several times throughout that I wished I could go back to the stability of the mundane. I joke that it was a preview of what retirement would be like. More importantly though I've found that how I spent my time was more in tune with who I am, which I suppose some people would label as lazy. As I've mentioned before I've always had a difficult time when it comes to a career. Everything has more or less felt like a job. It was just a way to get money to pay for the things I really wanted. I think part of that comes from the fact that I feel like people forced to sit in cubicles is the equivalent of cattle who spend their life in a cage. You're expected to produce and when you no longer provide you're taken out. Granted people don't get a bolt gun to the forehead like a cow, but talk to someone who has spent most of their adult life working at a single place how they feel when it's taken away from them. I have a feeling that the impact may as well be physical. For me the last three years feel like I simply circled back to where I started. The job I have now is roughly the same as the one I left before. The people and places are the same, which is not at all a bad thing. The whole thing feels a little like being lost in the woods where you travel for hours only to find yourself back where you started. Where you started may be safe and comfortable, but you're no closer to finding your way home.
The past few years have been increasingly difficult for a lot of people for various reasons. The world economy is a much harsher place than it has been in a long time. People everywhere are being forced to make hard decisions about what they're willing to put up with simply to survive. I would imagine the hope is that eventually things will change for the better and people can stop thinking about just survival and move onto greater things. As I've mentioned before, when you're primary concern is how you're going to feed your children or how to pay for your mortgage, then little things like dreams get put on the back burner. Those dreams could stay back there so long they get forgotten. Some could say that's just how life is and maybe that's true, but if that's the case then we aren't much better off than a pride of lions, who's main concern is where the next meal is going to come from. As people our greatest strengths come from moving beyond just survival and overcoming the world around us.
Sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that things will constantly be changing around us. The things we have now may not be around forever. This could include not just material possessions, but people and situations. Everything is always in motion and with that there will come a time when everything you're near will move away from you and you from it. That doesn't mean that by moving on you'll never return. It just means that in this moment right now you're going in a different direction. Just as everything has a force, everything has a direction. You can embrace it or deflect it, why oppose it?
