It's amazing what a difference a year makes!

Started: Dec 31, 2012...I have always liked the saying, "Jump and the net will appear". It exemplifies both my approach to life and my approach to teaching. Never having been satisfied with just getting by, I have always striven to learn new things, start new things without knowing how they will end, head off to distant destinations without really being sure how I will get back and generally trust that I can learn my way into and back out of everything I do. This approach has served me extremely well and has led me into classrooms across the globe, learning as much as I teach, and teaching as much as I learn. But now I am beginning to question my philosophy.Correction. Not necessarily the philosophy, but more the strength of the net.Some jumps you take hardly require a net. I'm going to purchase a clarinet that I don't know how to play and I am going to learn to play it. No net required here. I'm going to ask a beautiful woman to marry me. Strong emotional net required. We're going to start a family. Large net of unknown strengths required. I am going to relocate my family overseas. Large net required again.Which brings me to the driver behind today's musings.I am currently contemplating uprooting my family from a very good school, where my wife and I have very good jobs, where our lifestyle is very good and our income is similarly very good. That is the "from" in the uprooting scenario. The "To" in the scenario is directly proportionate to the size and strength of the net required should we go ahead and jump.The current "To" is a place yet to be determined, with a job yet to be determined, with a salary yet to be determined. Do I have some direction as to what those so-far-undetermined aspects should look like? Of course. But what I want them to be doesn't necessarily mean that is how they will be. Enter the net.To date, I don't think I have contemplated a leap that requires a net of such size and strength, and it is this point that is prompting me to question my philosophy and step back from the edge. It is this hesitation to jump that is new for me. It is this hesitation to jump that is causing me all sorts of turmoil. The constant swing from wanting to feel the rush of the wind as I fall headlong into what will be, to the reassuring feeling of my the sand between my toes.Continued: Jan 16, 2013...So two weeks later I am no closer to knowing if I should don the lycra tights and cape or roll out the beach towel and enjoy the sun!Continuing: Nov 16, 2013...And so I have jumped, the net has appeared, and it is strong!A very good friend of mine said, "Isn't it amazing what a difference a year makes!" While it has only been ten months since my last effort on this blog post, it has been a year since I first seriously prepared for the big leap. One year ago I wasn't ready, and at the time, I didn't really know. Now, one year later, I know what it feels like to know, and that has made all the difference.I have leapt into the realm of the unknown and trusted there was a net. And lo and behold, the net appeared. Lifestyle, job, salary. All woven in.Life is quite good sometimes!