What do you do when a trip down memory lane goes from pleasant, to confusing, to downright terrifying? You have one of those moments…. The realization thAt you are not who you envisioned yourself to be. You aren’t in the place in life that you expected and you wonder at what point you lost control or direction and ended up where you are. Sometimes you are in a better position, sometimes worse, but you realized you are growing. You are evolving into something and someone different than you once were.

Today, I took a trip up to the bluff. This is the place my ambitions took the form of college credits and clubs, and where I met, dated, broke up with, then became best friends with, the love of my life. I had so many dreams back then. So many goals and ideas, but a lot of fear. I have come to realize that fear really did hold me back. It was not only fear of the unknown, it was the fear of failure, the fear of not succeeding. I didn’t realize then that it was the best time to make mistakes, and beyond that, it is okay to make mistakes. You will survive and you will move on. Those words ring very true to me today.

How long should we wait for the opportune moment to arise where everything will come together? Will that moment ever happen, and if it does will we be able to realize? I personally am sick of waiting. The most important take away from my experience today was to just go for it. I had a brief “Billy Madison” moment in my mind where I wanted to grab some of those young faces And tell them to never leave, hold on as long as you can, and when it’s time to let go, don’t sit on the sidelines. Launch yourself off like a freakin Molotov cocktail, because sometimes that is what it takes to truly overcome fear. Strike when the iron is hot, and if it isn’t hot yet, make it hot. Take a step todAy to do something you want and fear; no matter how small a step, just do it. I know I will be.