Fork In The Road
Former New York Yankees great, Yogi Berra once said, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it!" Whether joking or somewhat serious, the statement is open for a lot of interpretation. I'd like to share with you my interpretation, which personal and subjective, is just one example of how it can apply to a person's life.
I've written in earlier blogs about my pursuit of professional baseball, my redirection to education and teaching for nineteen years and my most recent declaration to pursue a career in acting and screenwriting. I guess I could say that I have faced the fork in the road four times, and now - I am faced with it again. This time out of necessity and survival.
When I made the decision to pursue acting and screenwriting professionally, I knew it would be challenging and knew it would have risks. Everyone knows that and certainly professed it to me and reminded me of its difficulty on a regular basis. Believe me...I heard it often...from many people.
Leaving teaching and a full-time job to pursue acting/screenwriting, was essentially equivalent to me rolling the dice, taking a leap of faith or putting all my eggs in one basket. It can be a monumental decision and you risk a lot in doing so. And I did.
What resulted thus far was a flatlined, bottomed out, bust. It didn't work. Opportunities came, more followed and hope was created. Yet, not enough opportunities to provide for some of life's basic necessities - food, shelter and transportation. They're kind of important. Add in some unfortunate circumstances and some poor timing, and the theoretical eggs in my basket - all broke. What I realized was that possible eviction, food from food pantries, back-bills, creditor calls, and car repairs are not worth the stress and anxiety of holding on so strongly to a dream that is not tangible - right now.
I say right now, because I believe that you should still follow your dreams, your bliss in life, regardless of the struggles or obstacles that stand in your way. What I found important in this life-lesson was that we may come upon more forks in the road than we realize. Sometimes one direction is going to look a lot more attractive, appealing and enticing, but the other, the rational and logical is going to be the right path to take - in the now or right now.
I've come to a fork in the road...and I'm going to take it. It's a new path and I have no idea where it will go or how long I will be on it. But...it's the right path to take...right now.
I've written in earlier blogs about my pursuit of professional baseball, my redirection to education and teaching for nineteen years and my most recent declaration to pursue a career in acting and screenwriting. I guess I could say that I have faced the fork in the road four times, and now - I am faced with it again. This time out of necessity and survival.
When I made the decision to pursue acting and screenwriting professionally, I knew it would be challenging and knew it would have risks. Everyone knows that and certainly professed it to me and reminded me of its difficulty on a regular basis. Believe me...I heard it often...from many people.
Leaving teaching and a full-time job to pursue acting/screenwriting, was essentially equivalent to me rolling the dice, taking a leap of faith or putting all my eggs in one basket. It can be a monumental decision and you risk a lot in doing so. And I did.
What resulted thus far was a flatlined, bottomed out, bust. It didn't work. Opportunities came, more followed and hope was created. Yet, not enough opportunities to provide for some of life's basic necessities - food, shelter and transportation. They're kind of important. Add in some unfortunate circumstances and some poor timing, and the theoretical eggs in my basket - all broke. What I realized was that possible eviction, food from food pantries, back-bills, creditor calls, and car repairs are not worth the stress and anxiety of holding on so strongly to a dream that is not tangible - right now.
I say right now, because I believe that you should still follow your dreams, your bliss in life, regardless of the struggles or obstacles that stand in your way. What I found important in this life-lesson was that we may come upon more forks in the road than we realize. Sometimes one direction is going to look a lot more attractive, appealing and enticing, but the other, the rational and logical is going to be the right path to take - in the now or right now.
I've come to a fork in the road...and I'm going to take it. It's a new path and I have no idea where it will go or how long I will be on it. But...it's the right path to take...right now.
