the best laid plans of mice and men....

I recently came across this quote while browsing Pinterest. I later realized that I've posted it not only once, but twice to my "Words of Wisdom" board. I can't help but hear a voice in my head say, "This is God speaking. Shut up and listen." Don't you just love those moments in life? 

I think this post will follow up quite nicely with my previous post about what I am/am not doing with my life. Maybe God has different plans for me and maybe I'm not listening. Like I mentioned before, I'm in a job that I enjoy, but am not necessarily passionate about (minus the teaching part) and I have a (somewhat improving) mediocre social life because all my closest friends live a minimum of 2 hours away. It's actually disconcerting for me to be the little country girl I am at heart smack in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the largest city in the great state of Kentucky.

Big Red Dot = Louisville = Home

Then on the flip side, I love that I am 20 minutes away from anything I could ever imagine doing on a whim. I can catch a movie, enjoy a really great meal, go for a hike, find a yoga class, etc. on pretty much any night of the week at any time of the day/night. It's wonderful. An atmosphere that most 20-somethings would love. And I do.

Except, I don't feel passionate about the life I'm currently living. It's kind of blah. I get up, go to work, go home, eat/clean/etc., go to bed, get up and do it again the next day. My commute to work is about 45 minutes one-way, so that takes up a lot of time. The job itself is draining and so I go home not really feeling motivated to do much else. And that's where I want to inspire change in my life. 

My original plan was to work this job after graduation until I got my license as a counselor (LPCC). The more I think of how long that could take and what that would mean, the more interest I have in finding another position that would be more in line with my passions and more of a fast track to licensure. 

This is my passion!
Image Credit

That picture epitomizes where my heart lies and what I really want to be spending my days doing--helping special needs children grow and learn and feel valued. That is the life Joseph Campbell was talking about. The life that's waiting for me. There are so many agencies in the Louisville area that help special needs children. And I plan on working for one of them. I have no idea which one it will be yet (probably the first one that will make me an offer) and I don't know when the change will occur, but I'm convinced it's coming. It will be closer to home, so that will cut down on commuting time--leaving me with more hours in the day to enjoy the other, finer things in life that don't involve interstate traffic at rush hour. It will be more in tune with my passions and my interests--leaving me motivated at the end of the day, rather than drained. And I will no longer be sitting around making plans in my head, thinking about living the life I want, I will actually be living it!

I have got to get out of my head and inspire myself to action. And that's exactly what I'm doing. If I keep planning and thinking and wondering and wishing, I'll be here five years from now doing the same exact thing. Besides, what's that saying? The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. It's time to stop being a perfectionist, stop worrying about how others will respond, and start putting in applications and resumes and scheduling interviews. That's the only way to achieve the life that's waiting for me. It's been right under my nose all along and I've just been too scared to grab the reigns and take control. 

So now, I'm prayerfully stepping into uncharted territory to grab hold of the life that is mine and needs a wake up call.

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I ask that you pray for me and with me. That God will guide my steps into the unknown and that I will come out on the other side of this mountain with a new perspective, (hopefully) a new career choice, and the life that God has had waiting for me all along!