#WODW: Adventure

Life is full of so many wonderful adventures. You just have to be brave enough to take the plunge. It can be scary, but some of life's best moments come from taking risks and having faith that everything will work out in the end.

I recently moved to New York City. I've always wanted to experience living here but was always too scared to try and make it happen. But I'm not getting any younger and I realized that either I make this move now or I may never do it.

So here I am.

Ideally, I would've moved after finding a job and having everything perfectly settled. But life's not perfect. I worried that if I kept delaying (if even for good reason), I would continue to find excuses not to move and my dream of living in NYC would never happen.

Moving here was absolutely the right thing for me. I'm in love with this city and everything it has to offer. The food, people, culture. All of it. But that doesn't mean there still isn't a little part of me that's slightly terrified that I made a mistake. I'm still currently unemployed and we all know that finding a job is a job in itself.

So it's been tough. But while I continue my job search, I started volunteering with New York Cares. Part of my time is now filled working with some of the sweetest 3rd grade students to enhance their reading comprehension and creative writing skills. Sometimes they struggle, but their desire to learn and read is so inspiring.

My NYC adventure hasn't gone exactly according to plan, but that's okay. Happiness is a choice and I choose to find joy in the little things. A smile on a kid's face. Coffee and a good book. Finding a seat on a busy and crowded subway. Not falling in the middle of the street because the weather still isn't warm enough to melt all the ice/snow (Seriously. Big win in my book! HA!).

I'm still trying to figure things out but that's the great thing about life: it's a continuous adventure of self-discovery. Enjoy the journey.

xx Vanessa

P.S.
I got the newsletter for #WODW, which apparently means I've participated in #WODW previously. But this is my first time. I hadn't even heard of #WODW until I read the newsletter. So I don't know how that happened but I'm grateful for it. I've contemplated starting a blog for years, but was too scared of having my words judged. It's one to write a school paper, or write strictly for myself.. but to willingly put words out there for anyone to see and criticize is intimidating.

But it was Aristotle who said: "There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."

Can you imagine living life being nothing? I know. It's not a life at all. Therefore, I've decided to throw caution to the wind. Thank you Vashelle, Mia and #WODW for being the inspiration I needed to take on another life adventure. I don't know how it happened but maybe it was meant to be :)