“It is not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” ~Roy Disney
It has been four months now since I made the hardest decision of my life.
In the fourth grade, I made a pledge to work as much I had to until I became successful and moved the heck out of Ohio!
That commitment led me to graduate as valedictorian in high school and summa cum laude in college. However, it also resulted in missed recess (to do homework), missed parties (to research), and missed relationships (to study). Of course, I am not upset, for my accomplishments make me proud, but I do regret some of the things they’ve cost me.
At the end of this 14-year journey, my dreams came to fruition: I was offered the job I had worked my entire life to get, in the perfect location!
That’s right—the best private school in Florida offered me a job as Physical Education teacher living just minutes away from the gulf, in a city known for its sunshine, St. Petersburg.
I should have chomped at the bit! Jumped up and down! Ran circles around the house! But I didn’t…
Something was wrong. How could arriving at the destination I had worked so diligently to reach not bring me all of the happiness I had lost in the journey to get there? How could reaching my life’s goal not bring me to tears—not make my heart sing?
It took a while but I finally figured it out: It’s because I’m not the same person who chose my path in the beginning. I have changed.
At one point between now and the fourth grade, I evolved. My life understanding grew and adapted, but my tunnel vision on a preset goal kept me from realizing it.
It’s good to have ambition, but can too much be harmful?
Still, what’s to think about right? (more…)