I’ve been thinking a lot lately about taking the plunge. Not necessarily in the marital sense, but in the sense of doing anything big.

Anything life-changing.

Anything that has the potential to completely redefine the meaning of normal.

Normal changes when we do something out of the ordinary. Normal is safe, but branching out is necessary — for me, anyway. While it’s humanly possible to never turn your own world upside down and instead choose to stay comfortably holed up in a bubble, I’ve tried it. It’s a bit stifling, and it makes me fidgety. I might try to ignore a dream that needs chasing down or put off pulling the trigger on something that I’ve hemmed and hawed over for months, maybe even years, but I know it’s futile. Even if I were to let nervousness get in the way, stand firm and retreat back into the safety of the bubble, I’d be unhappy. Perhaps not at first, but it would eat at me.

I’d wonder what if, why not, and think about all the maybes. I’d know that the door would be all but shut on great things that could’ve been, great things that might’ve been uncomfortable at first but which could’ve made me better and been the life-changer that I was supposed to experience…unless I push that door back open.

Tonight I am thankful for knowing that what’s easiest isn’t always best, and what’s most rewarding might require going out on a limb and taking a chance.