Over 15 years ago I was standing in the Barajas, Madrid Airport.
{ WOW! That’s a long time! }
I was just 22 years old with a suitcase in my hand and a pounding heart.
There with me were two amazing men that had inspired me in many ways… true friends that I knew wanted the best for me.
I remember clearly standing in the line of people that were waiting excitingly to go through customs, thinking if the decision to come to the United States was a clever one.
I looked back many times to the faces of those two friends searching in their eyes for what I should do.
I was terrified, I felt in the middle of a multitude absolutely alone.
…The line went a lot faster than what I had anticipated. Before I knew, it was my turn to empty my pockets, to give the uniformed stranger my passport and the airplane ticket.
He mumbled directions, as a robot would have done, as though he was talking to a number instead of to a human being that was scared to death.
I was on the other side of the line and it felt to me like I was standing at the point of no return.
I felt clearly in that second that my life was never going to be the same if I got in that plane.
I had so many questions in my mind, so many doubts and fears but heavier than all of them was the certainty that I didn’t want to live with “What would have happened if…”
As scary as it was to leave my beautiful Madrid behind, the people I loved, the streets I knew so well, for me it was even more terrifying to stay in that dangerous place called “What if?”
I am not talking about the “what if” that makes us strive for better moments…
I am not talking about the “what if” that inspired ordinary man to go to the moon.
I live for those “what ifs”.
I am talking about the empty “what ifs”:
..What if I had gone to college?
…What if I would have had the courage to say no?
…What if I would have said I am sorry?
You know!
Those “what ifs” that don’t take us anywhere but to the past that we cannot change.
I knew in that moment, in that airport, just a few seconds away from my journey
that no matter what, “what if I would have…” was not going to be a part of my life.
I have unfortunately known so many people that don’t live TODAY fully because they are stuck in one of those “what ifs”.
It breaks my heart!
SO many of us believe that it is too late.
That somehow our chance to do, to be, to fly, to create, to become has simply passed.
Let me tell you something.
Right before I gave that officer my passport I looked back to the eyes of my good friend Sammy.
He doubled my age, he was wise and I knew he loved me as a father would love a daughter.
I knew he could see my fear.
With a smile and an infinite strength in his eyes he looked at me from the distance and softly said…
“Follow Your Heart”
No one has ever given me better advice that what that man gave me that day.
Because I decided to follow it I have discovered that for me the most beautiful thing about this life is not just to live it,
but to live it well.
In other words I never question my heart.
If I love you… I tell you and I show you.
If I make a mistake { and trust me I make many}, I learn from it, I cry, I stand up again, I ask for forgiveness believing that I can do better tomorrow.
If I intend to go to Spain but for some reason I end in Italy… I am going to forget the “paella” and instead I am going to learn Italian.
I am going to get lost in their beautiful culture and I am going to eat “gelato” until I can’t eat anymore.
If I decide to go to the beach and right after I arrive it starts to rain,
if I gave my trust to someone that didn’t deserve it,
if I didn’t have the courage yesterday of doing, saying, or living…
TODAY, I am not going to waste even a second in an empty and stupid “what if”.
Heck no!
I am actually going to do the opposite!
I am going to stand up and dance under the rain while the waves crash in the shore, and the clean breeze awakens my ideas.
Today I am going to value more than ever those that love me and support me day by day.
TODAY I am going to do anything in my power to wake up tomorrow with no regrets.
TODAY I am going to try to be my best me, to give the most of me, because at the end of our lives I really think that the “what ifs” don’t matter.
However the moments we share,
the lessons we have learned,
the simple actions that come from following our hearts
is what makes each second of this life worth living.
You know what?
The best thing I have ever done was to make the decision of getting in that plane.
Because of it among so many blessing I get to be my husband’s girlfriend and share with him our four treasures.
So cheers for tomorow and double cheers for today!
No empty “what ifs”!
♥
Happy Wednesday!
Desirée
I hope you can back this evening at 6:30pm to
Show Me EXTRAORDINARY at the Link PARTY!
LOVE this post…i’ve been guilty too often of letting the what ifs stop me from taking chances. but no more! thank you for sharing this…love it and needed the reminder. congratulations to you for following your heart! 🙂
Thank you for this beautiful look at what is in your heart. It explains so much about who you are and why your blog and everything you do and create has so much joy and light. 🙂 Thanks for the pick me up.
Good story and lovely post!! have a nice day!!
Oh my goodness. I love this post and needed it so much! Thank you! Thank you!
I will buy your book if you wrote one! You inspire me so much! I love your spirit Desire! Cheers to you as well!
What if I never met you? My life wouldn’t be the same. Very inspiring post. We should never doubt the what if’s and we should take more of those chances. I am glad you were brave and took that chance and got on that plane. Lots of love. jen p.s. did you get my last email? xo
Jen,
I didn’t get the email, would you mind to send it to me again. [email protected]
Thank you love!
I LOVE, LOVE, and LOVE this post. So heart felt, and so true. Double cheers for TODAY!
O-M-G!!!!!!!!! He estado con la piel de gallina desde el principio hasta el fin de esta entrada!!! Yo tambien tenia 22 años cuando parti a Estados Unidos desde el aeropuerto de Barajas de mi Madrid!!!! Y, como tu dices, nunca tome una decision mejor. Vine ATERRADA y sin saber lo que me esperaba, pero sabia que no queria vivir mi vida arrepentida por no haberlo intentado. Y la vida me tenia tantas y tan maravillosas sorpresas, por encima de todo (como a ti), a mi maravilloso marido Marc. Solamente el que el apareciera en mi vida valio la pena lo mucho que luche por venir y poder quedarme a vivir aqui. WOW! Esta entrada me llego al corazon!
Such a nice story! And you’re a very good story teller! Made me wanna cry, regretting for the many “what ifs” I’ve said in my life!
Hello Desiree,
Thanks for sharing your heartfelt story and the much needed encouragement.
Smiles, Paula