Why Not?

I have been long fascinated by people. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch them; sometimes I like to take a step back and pretend I’m not there and just wonder what people look like from the perspective of someone on the outside. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if you could see what each person was thinking by reading a bubble above their head.

I find it interesting to watch children run around without a care in the world. That teenager walking with music blaring out of their headphones. Girls gossiping in groups. Tired looking business men with slumped shoulders, tired moms chasing after children, everyone. Absolutely fascinating! What is their story? What are they doing? Where are they going? What have they seen? Are they happy?

Everyone has in their mind who they are, how they appear, where they are going and what they can and can’t do. Right now I’m going to volunteer myself up as a case study for this.

Growing up I was very quiet, very shy. In my mind I was a princess, of the fairy variety. I had princess wedding aspirations, complete with a prince and then so many children I wouldn’t even know what to do. I had not seen very much, but I was bound and determined to be the coolest, cool mom and wear all the pretty dresses I could.

As I got older, I really started watching the skies. I wondered to myself: “where are the airplanes going?” and “what kind of people are on them?” I longed for palm trees and soft sand, but I’m Canadian, so there are no palm trees here. I was never ever going to live anywhere with palm trees. I couldn’t.

I finished elementary school and high school homeschooled, then enrolled in public college, completed year one, and liked it. Year two, switched programs. Year three, stopped liking it. The sunny skies had started calling. There I stood, with a job, a house, a boyfriend, family and friends, an almost done diploma. I wasn’t about to leave. I couldn’t.

Year four, hated it. Pretty sure it was all in Greek. But I wasn’t going to leave. I couldn’t!

Couldn’t I?

Maybe… just maybe, palm trees and blue skies weren’t just pretend in a land far away. Perhaps I could say a ‘see you soon’ to my family and friends (never goodbye, just see you soon). Could I find an alternative to finish my education? I actually could, maybe, take a leave of absence at one job and get a job near those palm trees, just for a while…

I mean… why not? So I did. I realized that in hesitation I am my own worst enemy. The only thing holding me back is the thought of “I can’t”, when really, maybe I am meant to be on an airplane, under palm trees, in the sand.

Over the past year, from both men and women of all ages, I’ve heard “Chelsea, if anyone can do it, it’s you! But IIIIII could never do what you are doing.” While this is flattering, it also makes me want to shake them: “why not?” I am just a normal girl. I’m no PhD scholar, hippy flower girl or super athlete. I like regular 23 year old girl stuff, do regular 23 year old girl stuff and am, really, a regular 23 year old girl. Travelling and new things make me excited, but they also terrify me. So why can I do it and not them? What makes me any different?

The last year has led me to decide that what I REALLY want to do is to inspire people to step outside their comfort zone to evict the “I CAN’T” phrase from their vocabulary and replace it with a “WHY NOT?” Seriously, if I can do it, ANYONE can.

My suggestion to everyone reading this is simple: take a step back, and watch people. Consider what others see in the little bubble above your head. Do you like it? Are you happy? Should you be doing something else? Because you CAN.

In the wonderful words of a hero of mine, Emma Watson: “If not me, WHO? If not now, WHEN?”

Why not?

Love always,

Chels

#RedefineRealLife