As part of my own personal growth journey, I often reflect on the story of my life. When I do this, I see so many pivotal moments and choices that have made all the difference in my life and my happiness. Some of them are true “Leaps of Faith.” I want to share them with you over the coming months in hopes that you can get insights or inspiration from my experiences and lessons learned, or just for your amusement. You know what they say, “a good laugh is good for the soul!”
Since it is June, let’s talk about Boulder. Have you ever been so in love that all you could see was joy and possibility? Well…that was me 21 years ago this month. So in love with Doug (that was another “Leap of Faith” I will share with you soon) and full of possibility as we started our life together.
Some background here…I spent the first 37 years of my life in Houston, Texas. Most of the Texans I know can't imagine living anywhere else, but as I said, life was shifting for me. I was in love with someone who had moved around the country a bit and had landed in Houston as part of a plan to start a business that they were not able to get off the ground, and he didn't love Houston. Actually, neither did I, but moving away from my very large family and all of my friends was a scary thought to me. I didn't know if I could handle such a big change and losing my support system. But, I was making big changes in my life and feeling amazing about it and the possibilities seemed endless. And, did I mention that I was in love with a man who saw no limitations in what we could do.
He said where do you want to live? We asked Mike (my son who was 11 at the time) where would you want to live if you could live anywhere you want. Mike said Colorado (he had just learned to ski and had been on 2 spring break ski trips to Colorado and loved it). I thought, I love those mountains and I have always been drawn to the idea of Boulder, Colorado (ever since the days of Mork and Mindy.) Beautiful, funky, creative, spiritual, how could we go wrong?
So Boulder it was! We moved 8 months after Doug and I got together. Actually, I should say that I moved. I got a job first and Mike was spending the summer with his Dad, so I was there from July to September alone and till October without Doug.
Talk about your leap of faith. Everything was new and I was completely on my own at the start. I was completely out of my comfort zone! I now know that is exactly the place you need to be to move your life forward. Doug and I had to build a relationship that was dependent on each other for support, rather than looking to our friends and family. We had to try new things, meet new people and build a family without the village I was accustomed to being supported by.
It was tough and I believe it made all the difference in our relationship and the closeness we have to each other. It also was a tremendous confidence builder. Once you make a big move like that, you know that you can take on any big change. It also helped me to see that, for us, home is where the two of us are. We later moved to Chicago for a big career opportunity for me and then again to Charlotte for the same reason. We have been in Charlotte for 10 years now and love it, but we know that if we needed to move, we can. We know how to stay connected to our family and to rely on each other and we are always home when we are together. Additional good news, Mike and his family live here too now with our adorable granddaughter Lillian, so that is pure joy for our adventurous little family!
What about you? Have you made any “Leaps of Faith” in your life? What lessons did you learn? Please share below so that we can all be inspired to take that leap when the opportunity presents itself to us.
With love,
Lillie
P.S. If you found this blog helpful, please pass it along to your closest colleagues and friends – anyone that you think could use the insight and support.