The Road Ahead

She closed the door and glanced over at the pile of items sitting on the passenger seat beside her.  A jumble of thirteen years worth of memories.  Gripping the steering wheel tightly in both hands, she rested her forehead between them and pondered the step that had just been taken. 

She had been running on auto-pilot most of the day.  Going through the usual motions and duties associated with her job.  And now that her shift was at an end, she had time to finally process it.  She was gainfully unemployed for the first time in many years.  By choice.  And the concept was both terrifying and exhilarating, all at once. 

One moment her heart sank to the very pit of her stomach, weighed down with fear and uncertainty.  "What if this was all a big mistake?", she thought.  The implications of this change in her life swept up and over her, making her feel overwhelmed.

But in the very next moment she soared, lightened of the burden of the responsibilities and stress of the past years of employment.  She had an endless expanse of possibilities out in front of her.  There were new things to try, and new memories to make.

She smiled to herself as she put the car into gear and pulled out onto the road.  Knowing that change is never easy, but nothing can happen without it.