Everyone tells you that the hardest thing to do in life is moving on. Whether that means moving on from high school to college, from your parent's house to your first apartment, or from one life stage to the other. Moving on will always feel like the hardest obstacle you will have to overcome. But I am here to tell you, that moving on is really not the hardest obstacle you will face in your lifetime.
The hardest obstacle, in fact, is going to be yourself.
That may seem silly and just plain wrong, why would you want to hold yourself back from big and exciting changes in your life? And it's true, you might not mean to hold yourself back from these experiences. But sometimes you do, sometimes without even knowing you are even doing it.
Think back to that time, many years ago when you were just a little kid and you had just climbed the highest diving board at your local pool. You stood on that seemingly thin board, seeing your little wiggling toes hang off the edge. What did you do next? Did you jump? Everyone told you it would all be okay and that it was more fun than what you thought, but of course, no child is going to willingly jump fearlessly into the mysterious blue bottomless pit.
You held yourself back from something that could have made your summer amazing. But the fear of the unknown chained you to the wall and you most likely played it safe. Decisions to let go and move forward will always feel like that moment. Do you jump and risk injury, or having a fun and adrenaline filled experience? You never know what the exact outcome will be and it's hard to accept that sometimes.
Decisions such as these are the hardest ones to make. But no one ever said how long you had to take to make them. Take your time, and think about the best path for you. Do you jump off the diving board, or do you walk carefully back towards the safest route? The only thing that matters when it comes to moving on is the fact that you keep moving forward. Going backward on the diving board might be the safest, most familiar path to you, but it is exactly that. Going backward, not moving on to bigger and greater things.
You can't allow fear to hold you back from experiences and life stages.
You can be a strong and independent person, who doesn't need others to rely on and make your life fun and spontaneous. The only person that can control the path of your life and future is you, and it is so important to always remember that. You are the writer of your amazing life story, and no one can do it better than you. So remember that when times feel tough and the idea of moving on seems just too hard to accomplish, think about being the little kid again.
Seeing all the smiling children at the bottom, cheering you on and waiting to congratulate you on all of your accomplishments.
Think about how amazing your life will be, surrounded by the ones that matter and think about how happy you will be once you are exactly where you have always wanted to be.
Remember that small child, smile, and jump.
