What's Stopping You?

Yesterday I had a sort of epiphany. I was thinking about how lucky I am to be in my early twenties, to have a college degree and not be "tied down" in any way yet. I'm blessed enough to not have any college loans to pay off (though there are a few credit accounts I need to work on... but nothing too serious, thankfully), and I'm single. Obviously being in a relationship has its own benefits, but the truth is that when you're single you have freedom to go (almost) anywhere your heart desires. I'm in a season of life where I really appreciate that.

So I had to ask myself this: what on earth is stopping me for going for my dreams? Why do I allow myself to hesitate about doing the things I've always wanted to do, things I've always put off to an "ideal future?"

Since I started my new job, I've gotten to interview a few successful alumni from my college. I was excited about doing it mostly because I get to write an article about them for our college magazine (and somehow writing always ends up being my favorite task no matter what I'm doing). But what I didn't expect was just how inspired I would feel during those interviews. I mean, these are people who are about my age, in their early or mid-twenties. And they've started their own companies and won numerous awards. They just went for their dreams. Of course with the help of people who supported them along the way, but they didn't let obstacles stop them.

And you know, it's not just those interviews that left me feeling so inspired. I've been seeing a lot of people around me do new and unique things. Things like moving to another city to take part in an internship, launching a product they created, or starting a successful blog about a topic they're passionate about. It's affected my perspective a lot lately, because all those hesitations I have in my mind start to disappear when I see other people pursuing their dreams with abandon.

So I'm going back to that first question: What's stopping me? My fears? My hesitations about money? My anxieties about the future? Those are too silly and meaningless things to stand in the way of creating a life that brings me joy, and that adds meaning to the world.

I think I've learned to dream bigger a lot in the past year, and these last few weeks have only added to that. Who knows - maybe I'll move to another city for a year or finally do the World Race, since I've always dreamed of immersing myself in another environment. Or maybe I'll finally publish that novel I can't seem to stop working on. All I know is that I'm not going to let silly worries hold me back anymore. Life is much too short for that, friends. Don't let the little things seem bigger than they really are.

#2016 #life