"There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind." — C.S. Lewis

Change. Inevitable? Maybe. Necessary? Always. How can we grow if we don't change? Evolve? Learn? Can we stay in the same job, the same house, have the same routines and never experience anything different? Absolutely. But to truly become the greatest versions of ourselves, we must grow, learn, change. Sometimes this is unpleasant, or painful. Sometimes it's shedding old ideas or concepts and embracing something new.

Maybe it's getting in a car in Pennsylvania and driving to Florida to see your granddaughter graduate college and you've never been that far from home. Or getting on a plane in Sweden to watch your son graduate college in the USA, and you've never been there before.

Maybe it's starting a business for the 1st time and you are 53 years old, and finding a joy you've never felt before. Or planning that trip, that 1 road trip you've dreamt of for years. It's scary, exciting, a bit unsettling...knowing you will have experiences that you cannot plan for, but that will change you and your perspective forever.

Maybe, just maybe, you are holding on to the known because the unknown is so, well unknown, scary, intimidating. Leaps of faith are just that -leaps. You make a decision and go, drive, fly, open that LLC, melt that 1st pot of wax, add that 1st scent...but, you do. You have to do to find out.

Aunt Mari and Egon's mom tasted fresh coconut for the 1st time EVER at my house. Sharing that with them was so fun. Watching Derrick's aunt swim away from our boat in her 1st ocean - 30+ years ago after the wall fell and she was able to leave East Germany for the 1st time - unforgettable! Or my mom, signing on that dotted line after her high school graduation, committing to the US MARINE CORPS, not knowing where she'd be going or how her life would change.

Steps. Decisions. Commitments. All necessary - move forward, see around the corner, experience life, but we must put things in motion to change. Action is required. These women are indelibly engraved in my memory. These moments are significant for what they stand for - the willingness to do, to try.

Having cancer didn't define me, but it did change me - more than I expected. It made me braver, stronger, more passionate for life than I've ever been before. If you know me that's actually pretty funny, because I've always believed in grabbing life, in adventuring, but now I'm on another level. I guess I leveled up. 🤪

There's no way to know unless you let go. Change is in the air!!!

Keep adventuring, burn brightly, and embrace life!

In love and light, Your Crazy Candle Lady!