You can always go back

This was the single most frequent piece of advice I received as I chose to move abroad to Costa Rica in 2022. It was meant as encouragement, that I’m sure. But years later, I’ve come to find out how little truth that statement holds. 

At any moment, there are thousands of doors we can choose to walk through. Each unfolding our path in a new direction. As we step through these new portals, we surrender ourselves to the inevitable effects of learning, growing, and broadening our perspectives. 

And in this, immense shifts occur. When we then revisit to old paradigms, we find that we no longer fit the way we did before. Although we can physically return, there is no way to “unsee” the expansion that we subject ourselves to when we choose a different path. 

In 2023, just about every facet of life was rearranging: lifestyle, family, work, and love. I spent a lot of time contemplating the silver lining of this perceived destruction. With each new door I chose to walk through, my previous ways of existing in the world became more distant. One life ahead of me, one life behind me. What was this creating space for?

It was a jump into the deep end — a risk to follow a heart’s calling. Unknowing of the trials and blessings it would bring. Two years later I now find myself living on the other side of the world, in a culture much more foreign to me than life in Latin America. Humbled by my shortcomings, yet more embodied, more aware, and more aligned. Would I have had the courage to follow this heart’s calling, had I not already left my life in the states behind? 

I lay flowers at the feet of the version of myself who had the courage not to settle. The one who risked good for great and followed the pull into the miracle stream.

In every instant we have endless multitudes of opportunities. And in this, there is immense power. So instead of saying “you can always go back,” I offer you this:

Whatever path you choose — is the right decision. Even the steps that seem backwards are part of the dance. 

Above all, trust your internal compass — it will not lead you astray.