Rejection Is Redirection
A little bit about me:
I’m both a nostalgic and a daydreamer, of equally chronic levels. I’m somehow always positioned with one foot in the past and one foot in the future, leaving the present version of myself to figure out how to marry this distance on her own.
I’m a big believer in taking risks, however, I’m also a big believer in “When you know, you know” and I don’t typically stick around longer than I need to just to allow the universe to confirm what I already know in my heart to be true.
If I find myself in a situation that I don’t want to be in, I find the nearest exit. Some call it the Irish Goodbye. Others refer to it as leaving before the lights come on. I phrase it simply as: “I’mma head out…”
Well, after spending the winter in Los Angeles, these three facts played out like an outline to a coming-of-age film that left me, the protagonist, reflecting on her story and realizing her direction was all wrong. It was as though I’d sat down in an empty theater, the projection light beaming over me and onto the big screen, revealing that I’d been miscast and did not contain the range to portray that particular role.
So, as I’m likely to do, I recognized what felt like the most satisfying storyline to me and allowed myself to adjust the script accordingly.
“There’s a famous Japanese proverb that says, ‘If you find yourself on the wrong train, get off at the next station.’ It doesn’t matter if you have to pay a high cost for a new ticket. It doesn’t matter if you’re embarrassed to have made a mistake. Every price you pay to fix the situation is worth not going the wrong way, and starting to go the right way. Not having the courage to get off means going to the wrong destination. This, of course, isn’t about trains. It’s about life.” - Unknown
It’s a universal motto to “Follow your dreams”, but, I’ve found that people tend to leave out an all too crucial piece of advice to “Consider how compatible your dreams are with the life you want to live.” What’s meant to be will be - and discovering what’s not meant to be will only help you get there sooner.
So, with this newfound sense of direction and my overpacked bags in tow, I ran back into the arms of the East Coast; there was no sweeping orchestral arrangement or synthesized pop soundtrack to score this moment - only the quietly content relief of following a new dream.