Driven By My Inspiration and Passion

When I was a senior in high school, years ago, we had to provide a quote for our senior picture in the yearbook. I chose “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals”. At some point during my time in high school, I read that quote by Henry Ford and it stuck with me. Over the many years since then, that quote will pop into my head every now and then, but I never really think about it. For some reason, I woke up the other morning and thought about that quote. This time I really thought about it. I thought about how my goals have changed over this past year. How I find myself being driven by my inspiration and passion to provide a better life for not only my cats, but your cats as well.

A Different Path

I knew as a child that I wanted to be a teacher. Playing school with my grandmother was a favorite summer activity. I absolutely love books and reading, so I knew I wanted to teach English. I wanted to inspire young adults and give them a passion for reading. Although it had always been my goal; I had some obstacles achieving it. Mainly because I took my eyes off my goal. I got sidetracked. My attention was diverted. Eventually, I got back on the right path and accomplished my goal and have been teaching for almost 20 years driven by my inspiration and passion.

Over the past year, I have noticed that my inspiration and passion has been guiding me to a different path. This new path is not as clearly defined as my current path. Remembering that Henry Ford quote and, actually, thinking about what it meant created an “a-ha” moment for me. I have been mulling over starting down this new path but kept seeing too many obstacles. Although this new path still involves teaching, it is definitely cat centric. My passion to provide my cats with a holistic approach to their wellbeing has opened up so many doors for me. My goal of giving my cats the best life possible has turned into a new goal for myself. A new path. One that I am just beginning to traverse.

Eyes on the Goal

To say that I am not apprehensive about setting a new goal and choosing a different path would be silly. The feelings of apprehension, of fear, of doubt are going to be there anytime you start something new. I know that it will not happen overnight. There will be lots of planning, because I am a planner, sometimes an overthinker. But things have been set into motion. I am taking steps towards this new goal. A path that will benefit my cats, as well as so many others. One that I truly believe my cats have guided me to, for they will always be my inspiration and passion. It is still scary though. However, I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, which seems fitting right now. Here’s to the road less traveled.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

– Robert Frost