READY OR NOT

"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives." - Lemony Snicket

Are you ready?

Ready for your next challenge?

Ready to move up in your profession?

Ready for a change of scenery?

Ready to take control of your life?

Something that took me forever to understand is that “ready” is a fucking mindset. No one is ever truly “ready”. We all have self-doubt and apprehension as to whether we are prepared for a change in our lives.

When I was in college I had finally (after six years of fucking around) decided I was going to become an Agricultural Mechanics teacher. I came to the point where I chose my career path and was going to see it through. But as I got closer to actually finishing school and becoming a teacher, I didn’t know if I was ready. So I was going to quit. I simply didn’t feel as if I was prepared to teach the world’s youth. However, after a nice long talk with an incredible woman who was fighting a fucking death sentence bestowed upon her by cancer, and who made me feel like I could actually succeed as a teacher, I had no choice but to convince myself that I was “ready”.

After spending my first semester teaching at a great high school, I was asked to apply for a new position with a better high school program. I was offered the position and I asked for 24 hours to talk it over with my family and friends to decide if I was “ready”. Knowing that it was a better opportunity for me in my career, I again had to convince myself that I was capable.

Three and a half years into teaching high school, and the damn world shut down due to a pandemic. Just a few months before this happened, I was asked to apply for another position with a community college diesel program. This happened to be my dream job. But after only three and a half years into teaching, I was scared that I wasn’t experienced enough. After interviewing and being offered the position, I (again) had to convince myself that I was “ready”.

Only one year into my dream job teaching at this community college, I was told that I would need to either take an experimental shot or apply for an exemption to continue working in the district. Both of these options challenged my morals and values as a man and as a human being. I chose to oppose the district mandates, which ended up with me involved in an uncomfortable and lengthy process with the human resources department and ultimately, cost me my dream job. Not knowing what was going to happen next, I had to convince myself that I was "ready"for anything.

Now in the midst of not knowing what my fate would be in regards to my situation with the community college district, I wanted to relocate myself and my better half to a place that aligned more with our values and provided a safer place to live. So I took a job 900 miles away from where we were currently living and for half of the salary I was making with the college.

I was terrified of leaving my family and friends.

I had no idea what life would be like in this new place.

I was in the process of purchasing a house without ever having fucking stepped foot in the state before.

I wasn’t sure what the future had in store for me but, once again, I had no other choice than to be “ready”.

My dream job was coming to an end.

I had a house purchase pending in an entirely new state.

I had a new job where I would be doing something completely different than what I had spent doing the past five years.

A lot of big things were happening.

And with all this going on, I still wanted to make what was going to be my most important decision yet.

So I bought a ring. The night before I decided to ask my beautiful girlfriend to be my wife, my heart felt like it was living outside of my fucking chest. I wanted to spend the rest of my life and create a family with this person. I wanted to make this woman my queen.

But was I "ready"?

In the midst of all of the chaos, life changes, and stress, I knew I wanted to seal the deal and make her my wife. I wanted to take the leap and ask this person to take my hand in marriage. I was pretty sure that she was ready, but I knew that I was fucking ready.

Being ready is a mindset. You’re never going to be completely ready for something new or to take a huge leap in life. Every possibility will run through your head. Doubt will touch every single part of your heart and soul. It will be terrifying. It will be difficult. The unknown can be a scary bitch! But the only way to find out if you are ready is to take a fucking chance, because you know damn well that certain opportunities only come once in your life!

So bet on yourself.

Have the confidence that you will figure it out.

Understand that no matter what, you can work through any fears and difficulties.

And while you may not feel “ready” for all the opportunities you have in life, the only way to know for sure is to take that fucking leap of faith and commit.