We pretend it doesn’t matter.  We dismiss it.  We hold onto what’s safe.  What we know.  We let fear rule our thoughts and command our actions.

We are always on our guard.  We hold back. We never venture.  We build walls. We are skittish and our senses are on constant alert, never knowing when we might need to run in the opposite direction.

Once we start running in the opposite direction, we never look back either.  We just go.  To where, we don’t even know.

Before long, it becomes a way of life.  We become drifters and nomads, never really feeling like we belong anywhere.  We accept our thoughts and actions but no matter how much we pretend or how far we run, we never get away from them.

We just change the scene and the people.

Ultimately, it is the same in every aspect of the way we live our lives.

How do I know?

That was me.

For a long time.

I just didn’t know it.

Then, one day, I refused to run anymore.  I wanted to face my fears and see what would happen if I stayed.  I have never been more afraid in my life and some days, I am not really sure how I was able to stand my ground and fight through my fear.

Running is easy.  Staying is hard.

Our problem is that we look at things backwards and never make the honest effort to look at the way they should be.

The way we need to look at them.

We tend to look at what we know and never accept that we are being held back; we view it as being safe.  We run to get away from things or people; never do we convince ourselves that we are running towards something.

Our comfort zone is called a “comfort zone” for a reason.  Many of us never leave it.  We justify why we need to stay there and some of us are okay with that for the rest of our lives.

Limits are there for a reason, right?

It takes a lot of work to prevent yourself from ever experiencing anything new…to staying in the same place…to remaining afraid.

We hold onto what is familiar instead of letting go.  We never grab hold of anything unknown and find it difficult to take even a single step in the direction of the exotic.

Don’t you ever get tired of living the same life, day in and day out?  Whatever town you find yourself in, none of live in the town of “Stepford.”

Ultimately, this choice is yours.  It’s mine too.

Find the courage to test your limits and squash your fears.  Reach higher than you ever thought you could go and in doing so, you will surprise everyone around you.  Including yourself.

The rewards you reap on the other side will confirm any doubt that ever held you back and you will find yourself in a different state of being.  You will find yourself running towards things that used to terrify you and you will be on the constant lookout for your next challenge.

But going forward, you know better.

Today just became unlike every previous day you have every lived and we both know tomorrow will never be the same again.

Michelle A. Homme 2016 ©