Ummera, ummera-sha

Plans. I always have plans. I've had plans for university since the end of the ninth grade. I knew what I wanted to take and I knew where I wanted to go. I knew what job I wanted and when asked, where do you see yourself in ten years, I had an answer. I had an answer. It's just amazing how three months can change your plans. And not necessarily with what career I want to have, but I've been exposed to a lot more things here in Toronto than I ever was in Calgary, a lot more options and opinions and perspectives and choices. So this whole thing about having my plan thrown for a crook in the road, that's okay. Plan A is hardly ever a guarantee, and sometimes we have to move onto Plan B, or maybe even C.
The important is to not get wound up I think in the fact that plans change. I learned awhile ago that things never work out they way you think they will. Life is just not that predictable, not that perfect. When are plans go awry, we freak out. Because now, there is no more flat set of rules to follow. I think it takes a lot to stand back and look at your life and say, "yah, I need to make a change." Even if that change never seemed plausible a month ago, or a year ago. Even if that change was never in the plans. That can be hard. But what's even more hard I think, would be looking back on your life years from now and agonizing over the choices you didn't make and changes you were to afraid to make. What I believe it all comes down to is this: How badly do you want it? How important is it? To be successful in my life I need more motivation than a hefty salary and great dental benefits. I need happiness and satisfaction. I need to do the right thing. I need to do something. I think that's scary, because there's a lot weighing on that. But it's times like these we all need to be brave and keep your head up. Because being swept along is NOT enough, and your choices reflect so much.
So I'm going to make my changes and allow room for more. In the end though, I'm staying on course. I'm remembering why I'm here in the first place. To get somewhere I desperately want to be. How I get there will change over time and plans will change. I'll occasionally be hit with the unexpected. But sometimes the unexpected things in life are the most exhilarating, because they are the things you don't plan for, the things you don't see coming. So I'll just take what I know and go forward knowing I'm doing the best I can with what I've got.

Ummera, ummera-sha is a Rwandan saying meaning "Courage, courage my friend -find your courage and let it live"