Is this you?  Have you promised to settle for something less than you should have?  Less than you deserve?  I am sure we could all raise our hands on this one.  Maybe not all the time, but at some point when what our heart tells us to do is not what we end up doing.  So we do just the exact opposite, led by guilt, obligation, or because it is easier to follow the status quo.  But what if we decided to break that agreement and do what feels right?  Whatever that decision is, that we completely forgo any regrets and understand that our hearts can be set free?  Why would anyone else that loves us want us not to be happy?  It is different if we choose something that may be viewed as a sacrifice by others.  I was given an opportunity to play college softball and tennis, but I turned those chances down.   I chose something else instead and have never thought a second about any regret that could have by making that choice so long ago.  I know why I made that choice and I never have considered it a sacrifice.  Compromise is good when deciding where to go out to dinner or when selecting features you must have on the house you are building.  But living a life of compromise is not living.  It is hard when you feel like your heart pulls you one way and yet you are being pulled another by outside sources.  What do you do then?  We need to pledge to ourselves that we can break that vow and finally be free.  Last week, I received a message from a cousin where our forms of communication seem to come once a year at the Holidays with a picture of our families.  She made my day when she told me that she has never seen me happier than I am now.  And she is right.  Thanks, AA.  Because after years of compromising me and what I am here for, I vow to never let that happen again.  Through the struggles, through the smiles…this is no longer a compromise for me.  This is a requirement of me.

Michelle Homme 2012 ©