Establishing checkpoints...

Well, it's official.  I put in my two weeks notice at my hotel job.  Although it is only a second job and I took it under the assumption that I would only keep it for a few months, here I am more than two years later finally leaving, and terrified.  I've wanted to for so long, not just so I could have an actual weekend like everybody else, but so that I would have more time to focus on my writing and photography.  The scary thing is we are not exactly in a financially secure place right now.  But, that aside, I have to trust my gut.  And my gut says it's time to go.  I went back and forth about whether to take the plunge- what about money, what about my mental health, what will this do to my team, what will my parents say, etc. etc.  The deciding factor came down to fear.  Why, with all positives considered, did I not want to leave?  Plain old fear of change.

I am reading a great story right now called Same Kind of Different As Me, and there is a line in it that adopted me the moment I heard it.   A homeless man and his wealthy friend are having coffee, when the homeless man looks down at the other's keyring and asks if his friend owns something that each of the eleven or so keys open.  The man replies that he does, though he'd never thought about it before.  Then, the homeless man asks, "Are you sure you own them, or do they own you?"  And, scene.  That was it for me.  This line has now become my checkpoint.  When I asked myself, do I own this job or does this job own me, the latter most definitely lit up like neon.  It was clear what I needed to do.

I can apply this line to everything in my life- relationships, jobs, possessions, thoughts.  It's my new shortcut to weeding out the negatives in my life.  And, I will ask myself this question several times a day, if necessary, just to be sure that my answer is clear on the one question that is most important of all- do I own my life, or does my life own me?

 Chris in motion.  Talking about owning your life would not feel complete until I mention my heroes- my friends (one pictured above) who do what they love, putting their all into every moment.  They just had a baby, which they have not posed as an excuse to stop doing what they love or to stay in one place.  They travel the world spreading passion for the arts and for life.  What better environment could a baby be raised in?