Yes, I've done it.

"Other people dream about it, but you've already done it." What is it that I've done that I'm so proud of? Well...Life....life as it came to me and presented itself.

Sometimes I envy the person who goes to work, comes home, knits in front of the TV, goes to bed and does basically the same thing the next day. But my life was not to be like that I
guess. Some of the things I've done include leaving home at 17 when my family thought I was too young, changing careers when I was afraid it was too late, going to college in my forties even though I was terrified, then going back to school again at an age when I thought I might not be able to learn, getting on a stage for most of my life and singing my heart out even when I was so scared that I'd become physically ill beforehand (I'm still singing on a stage), having a marriage that's lasted for 30 years (yep, hard work but well worth it), having a job where I had to pick up the phone to call someone when I was so nervous that I cried before each call. I could probably list many other things, but these are some of the biggies that I can recall.

The point of my story is that each time Life presented me an opportunity that I could recognize, I went for it, no matter how scared I was. I'm not a risk-taker especially, and I do get scared, but I reach out for those opportunies rather than reject them. They are gifts.

Together these and other events make up my life. I think I must have been scared a lot in my younger years - but I jumped off cliffs anyway when I didn't think I could survive. I'm saying several things here - that if I can do it, anyone can. That if life presents an opportunity, go for it. That what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. That time does heal wounds....well, some of them. That yes, when we do all we can possibly do and have nothing left that we can do, there is a mysterious benevolent force that is there to help make it happen. There is mystery in the universe and we must accept that and enjoy what it presents to us, not be afraid of it.