I was reluctant to leap into the unknown…Terrified even. When I was first invited to give it a try, I became paralysed with fear. It meant completely surrendering myself to a decision that I knew offered no guarantee of success. What coaxed me into jumping…? The simple fact that I could no longer ignore the nagging voice that reminded me daily of the fact that I wasn’t happy. There was a yearning, a desire that demanded my attention and it wasn’t being fed.
Was beach, Ikaria
For the longest time I had wanted to pursue my passion. I knew what it felt like, but it took a little while for it to take shape. What I knew for sure, was the fact that I was done with my old life. Regardless of the imposing fear of stepping outside my comfort zone, the numbness was far too burdening.
So I launched, with no clear plans to steer me, but for the navigation of my passion.
I packed up 8 years of a more than comfortable life interstate, said goodbye to an 11-year relationship, filled my car with my belongings, and left…
dirt road, Lemnos
It was one of the greatest and most daunting turning points of my life.
When we invite change, the potential for what’s available for us to experience becomes all encompassing. Sometimes, the only effort you need to make in order to shift the gears in your life is simply the willingness to want to change. It need not be drastic. Mine was, because that was the only way I was going to experience what I needed to learn.
The biggest lesson for me was my willingness to trust and back myself. Something I knew I had forgotten how to do. To this day, it still very much remains a work-in-progress, but I’ve gotten much better at leaving behind the voice that tells me it’s not going to work. Change is as much about allowing ourselves the possibility of stepping into what we have always wanted to do, as it is breaking old habits and thought processes that no longer serve us.
church, Paros
What did that change actually look like? What happened when I didn’t surrender to fear?
I dove head first into my biggest passions and launched Mediterranean Wanderer. Nothing prepared me for the events that would soon follow that decision. Nor did I believe that they would even be remotely possible. I experienced the greatest learning curve I could possibly imagine. The biggest gift in return for trying? The fact that I actually made it happen. I had finally bought to life the very things that I had always wanted to try and I had managed to make them work…
steering your direction, Mani
We never know where the current of life will take us. Sometimes the waters are smooth, sometimes we struggle to navigate our way. Each decision invites a new possibility, regardless of how challenged we feel by the journey at the time…we are always being governed by forces coaxing us closer to achieving our full potential…Your greatest regret won’t be that it might not work, your greatest regret will be your failure in making an attempt to start.
Happy Travels, Paula x
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