Sometimes a leap of faith gives you one of life’s greatest rewards

If we're having coffee, you and me, and you ask me to tell you a story about myself. I'm most likely going to tell you one of two different tales. I'll either tell you about the events surrounding my engagement to my husband or I'll tell you about the night that my youngest daughter was born. Now, that's not because my wedding day doesn't make for a great recount or because the birth of my other two daughters is any less beautiful. It’s because both of these monumental occasions have all the characteristics of a truly great story, character, setting, conflict, plot and theme— and they are so much fun to share. Furthermore, the common thread is they both taught me important life lessons, something about myself. 

On this day nine years ago Aaron and I got engaged. Nine years ago tonight I was standing in the middle of five hundred people, in a dining room on a cruise ship floating in the middle of the Caribbean ocean. There’s was a ring box open in the hand of a man with a pure heart of gold, he was  down on one knee with a microphone in his other hand. It was the easiest yes that I’ve ever said in my entire life. In an instant, my universe shifted, changed forever, and for the better. To be completely honest we were insane, at the present moment, we were only dating for a grand total of 81 days! That's shy of three months, folks! However, one hundred and eleven days before that night that we found ourselves standing with 1,000 eyeballs on us, one simple, almost meaningless text message opened a door for me to walk through. I thank god every day that I did.  

I had a map of what I thought my life was going to look like and somewhere along the way everything started to look a bit blurry. I started praying for a jsign, waiting for a moment to let me know where to go next, knowing that the best things come to you when you don’t even try. So, from the very first moment his number flashed on the screen of my phone I never hesitated, showed my cards and went all in. I’m sure we would both agree that nothing in life ever made more sense. To this day I'm not sure what exactly I did to deserve all that I'm given but I'm forever thankful. 

So, you're wondering what life lesson our engagement taught me. It taught me that some of the most rewarding things in life require a giant leap of faith. Close your eyes, say yes, and jump in head first! Don't over analyze it, tear up the flow charts, toss out the pros, and the cons list. And, for the love of god, do not listen to statistics. Follow your heart, listen to your gut, quite the voice of fear perched on your left shoulder, and go for it. Accepting that proposal was the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.