"What do you want to do now?"

My dear one, 

The other day while talking to a colleague I consider to be a true friend and mentor, I was stumped momentarily over a question she posed to me: "Now that you have those tremendous academic achievements [my doctoral degree] behind you, where do you want to go from here? What do you really want to focus on now? What is your passion?"

Spotted on my running route

I confessed to her that, for so long, my life has been driven by obligations. I have learned to pursue my "duty," ignoring my "desire" (or attempting to, anyway). I have had to say goodbye to the hopes I carried for so long and face the grim reality of my perpetual singlehood. God has had me on this academia track for about ten years now and I've been dragging my heels all along, not fully convinced that this life is "for me."

But now that the reality is sinking in, a new freedom slowly emerges. I don't know where it will take me. As I told my friend, right now I'm still decompressing from the past three years, decluttering in many areas of my life (materially, emotionally, spiritually, physically). I've started reading about minimalism and whole-food diets. I've gotten back into running and am getting back in shape. I'm asking the Lord to give me "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."

So, what do I want to do now? Well, for starters, I'd like to meet you! :)

All my love, 
Me