Road Full of Promise

I suppose I do owe a fair bit of exposition after the vagueness of my first post. I'm just trying to think of where the most practical place for me to begin would be. Let me just let the ball drop where it may and hope it starts rolling in the right direction.

I've lived in rural Georgia my entire life. It's nice, it's quite, and it's comfortable. My drink of choice is homemade sweet tea and my vocabulary is heavily garnished with the word y'all. But I always knew that I wouldn't be in Georgia forever. I always said that I wanted to go on an adventure, I wanted to see the world, I wanted to go out, inspire and be inspired.

Over a year ago, when I graduated high school, I had no idea what the next stage of my life was gonna be. I didn't really view the college route as an option because... Well, seriously, who really goes to college these days anyways? (Everyone, that's who!) I just knew deep down that it wasn't the right path for me to take.

Instead, I took a year off to figure out who it is I wanted to be and what I was supposed to do. It was a long year full of prayer, mediation, and soul searching. A long year of waiting.

Fast forward to one year later, this past April to be exact, and not much has changed, except for the fact that I was in possession of a plane ticket to visit a good friend in Los Angeles. It was just meant to be a visit, just to see what it was like. What it became was something much, much more.

Many different voices spoke to me during the course of that one short week, and it seemed like they were all saying the same thing. Though, not like in a Stanley Kubrick sort of fashion. These voices kept telling me that it was time to take a leap of faith. And quite honestly, it scared me. I was scared of the thought of such drastic change and stepping out on my own. And it was in that moment that I realized I had become the complete opposite of the person that I wanted to be.

I wanted to be someone that charged at the opportunity for adventure, not shy away when it knocks at the door. It was really the first time in my life where I came to a major crossroad. A choice had to be made. I could either overcome my fears, step out into the unknown and embark on a quest to find out who I'm supposed to be, where I'm supposed to be, and what I'm supposed to do, or keep waiting for a 'someday' that might never come.

So, here I am writing this post while my car is being serviced so that it can make the 2,300 mile trek across the country. I don't know what all awaits me on the other side, but sometimes the heart just knows that there's light and fresh air at the other end of a dark tunnel. All you need to do is follow it.

Back in April in Los Angeles, my friend turned me on to a band called The Avett Brothers. I instantly connected with their music and felt like I should have known about them a long time ago. One of my personal favorite's of theirs is a song called Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. In the song, there's a line that says, "Decide what to be and go be it." It's a challenge calling all people to take ownership of the person they were meant to be and pursue it to whatever end.

I know I am about to embark on a great and treacherous adventure. I will choose not to let fear change who I am or hold me back from grabbing hold of daring opportunities. Though the road may be dark and full of uncertainty, it is also full of inspiration, destiny, and promise.

And right now the mechanic is calling and telling me that my car is ready. I can only hope that I'm ready too.