I’m not a huge fan of the news—it’s depressing even on a good day—so most of the time I tune it out, but I’m not completely clueless to what’s going on around me. I do know the world economy is still on shaky ground and that swine flu is rampaging across the globe. I just refuse to bear witness to the media frenzy that feeds on stories like these. What good does it do? Keeps us informed? Puhleeez!
Keeps us paranoid is what it does. We, and I mean Earth’s inhabitants, have been on the same economic roller coaster ride many times before—at least once a decade—and some deadly variety of the flu comes around at least as often, so the current headlines shouldn’t have people so paralyzed by fear they’re afraid to live their lives.
I’m certainly not. In fact, I’m going to throw caution to the wind six weeks from now and uproot my life to venture to another state and see what opportunities exist there. I know: it sounds irresponsible, doesn’t it? Or maybe it’s the adventurer inside me that refuses to buy into the media hype and honestly believes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I tend to operate that way—on blind faith—and I’m rarely disappointed.
Of course my dad thinks I’m crazy. When I told him I plan to move from Colorado to Oregon, I heard the unspoken question in his mind: “Who in their right mind walks away from a comfortable Corporate America job (with benefits!) to start over with nothing in a state they’ve never even been to before?” Me, that’s who!
And I know lots of people who envy me my daring, though they’d never dream of doing something like this themselves. No, they, like my dad, prefer to stay locked in their semi-secure situation hoping, praying it stays secure. Their lifestyle, to me, seems as crazy as my own unconventional plans. I mean we’ve only got one life to live, right? So how ridiculous is it to be afraid of what lies outside our comfort zone?
What if all the inventors and scientists and doctors throughout history feared the unknown? What if no one asked, “What if?”
It’s our passion and curiosity that drives us to discovery, and by denying ourselves the opportunity to consider the infinite possibilities of life, we remain small and inhibited and average. I don’t know about you, but ‘average’ doesn’t work for me. I’m going to live my life trying to be the best version of me that I can be and the hell with the headlines. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
