Should You Stay, or Should You Go?

One of life’s biggest crossroads is this: should I stay or should I go?

At some point, life will inevitably present this question.

Betrayal, stagnation, lack of meaning, feeling unfulfilled, conflict between desire and duty, growth versus stability, familiarity versus adventure.

It can be brutally painful, slowly eroding, or simply mentally confusing.

We sit with the question for a while, before either acting on what we already know, life nudging us along the path we think we “should” take, or quietly continuing on the path we are already on. “What ifs” whisper in the space inside us that only time and the parts of ourselves we deny can hear, a space life cannot define.

The courageous may act. The dutiful may comply.

Whichever path you choose, grief will come with it.

It does not mean it is the wrong path when something ends and something new begins, even if it looks positive. Grief can coexist.

If you do not change and continue along the same path, the grief of what could have been may still surface later.

There is no avoiding hard feelings, sticky places, or uncertainty.

There is no escaping longing and loss, for all of this comes with living, unless we numb ourselves.

Both paths are valid. Neither will spare you pain. The question is, where does your heart lean?