I wish someone had told me we can change the course of the journey at any time

I am a big fan of quotable quotes. I think we all like to hear some form of wisdom at some point in our lives; these gems of wisdom can come in the form of inspiring words from a friend or stranger, quotes we see on social media (hello Pinterest!), or in another form.

I have a number of favourite quotes, some of which have inspired me repeatedly in my life. One of these is a quote by famed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. I have not read all of Coelho’s books but, I enjoy his writing. He has shared plenty of wisdom with me in the pages of his books: some of it in the form of quotes and some in the form of stories (which often feel like allegories).

But, I digress. The Paulo Coelho quote is: “The decision to walk creates the path ahead”.

This quote often comes to me when I am embarking on something new and I am nervous about whether I am making the right decision. What I like most about it is that it reminds me that it’s okay to follow the path of a new journey. Even though I don’t know where it’s going to lead, the path will become clear once I start the journey. I need to take the decision to walk, start walking, and the path will become clear because I will create the path as I go. And this is just fine.

“The decision to walk creates the path ahead”. – Paulo Coelho

Many of us are socialised to understand that there is a certain way life unfolds based on decisions we make in the first 20, or so, years of our lives. As I get older (and towards the end of my twenties), I realise that life is constantly changing in every possible way. I look at the people around me, especially those close to me, and I see how they have made decisions at various ages which have changed the course of their lives. Even when these decisions were “not the way we do things” they were the right decisions for them.

“The decision to walk creates the path ahead”.

If we are stuck in situations we no longer want, we need to make some decisions and start the journey on a new path. It is not always easy and not all of us do well with change but we have the power to change our lives. Having this power means we can and should change our lives if we are not living the lives we want to live.

This is not to say that life is without consequences. Every decision we make has consequences which we will need to accept and endure. However, we are allowed to change our minds and choose a different path if the current path does not work for us.

I find this to be a very empowering message; it’s okay to change your mind. Yes, we will need to accept whatever consequences there are for this choice but sometimes those consequences are better than living a life we don’t want.

I know it can be hard to change our lives, especially when we are quite far down the path of a certain life, but it’s not impossible. We are not bound, indefinitely. We cannot take things back but we can do better going forward. We cannot change the past but we can build the future we want. Fortunately, for many of us, our lives are our own and that means that we hold the key to reaching our dreams. We can change the journey at any time, and we should if the journey we are on is not the one we want to be on.

So, I end with this quote:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”― Henry David Thoreau