“If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.” – Padmasambhava

By Dawn Onley

It’s so easy to get into a rut. The routines of family life, the drudgery of unfulfilling work, the comfort of familiarity, the predictability of each day, all have the power to suck us in like a tornado. It takes effort to go beyond what is there now, to whirl our way out of our present conditions and arrive on the doorstep of our dreams.

It’s not impossible, but it’s tough work. It doesn’t surprise me at all that many choose to remain in this mundane existence. It’s easier. It’s safer. There’s less room for disappointment or error. There is a certain contentment in what is known and commonplace.

The road less traveled has always been just that. While few brave souls venture out to live their passion and create their destiny, everyone else is stuck in a logjam with tons of other motorists, with hopes of at least maneuvering into the HOV lane to get to our daily existence, albeit a bit quicker.

It can be terrifying to take a chance — on the unknown, on love, on creating a path that we customize for ourselves, learning along the way. So instead, we create outlandish goals like winning the Powerball, because it’s too hard and too hurtful to set realistic goals and not reach them. Instead, we backpedal on the things that we initially said we wanted, insisting that we never wanted them to begin with. We resign ourselves to an ordinary life and try to silence our extraordinary dreams.

We do this out of fear.

But for those who possess a radical courage and a trailblazing spirit, those who want to venture out to see what’s out there in the great beyond, I wish you a million dandelions to cast your wish and the bright trail of a shooting star. I wish you God winks and open doors. I hope you make the right connections and find the right opportunities. I pray you have the Biblical faith of Daniel and the resolve of Ruth.

“Everything we have done up to this point in our lives has brought us EXACTLY to where we are now in our lives, and everything we do from this point on will take us to the next place in our lives: Every move forward or backwards commits us to some place in the future. If you want to be someplace different in the future than where you are right now, begin by moving in that direction today,” said my dear friend, Adisa Ajamu, an esteemed psychologist, author and scholar.

Today is the perfect day to take action. One year from now, you’ll be glad you did.