Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.
Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
Every pivot is a course change, a move from one path to another. In making this change, it is important to recognize where you’ve been, before you decide where to go.
The first, most important question is, “Are you willing to change?”
Before you set about any radical change in life, you must first be certain that you want it. For most of my life I expected to live and die alone; single, childless, basically friendless.
When wifey and I were getting serious, she confronted me with the question of whether I wanted to have children. As someone who tries to lead a life of integrity, I could not be Uncle Buck, and string her along. I was not going to make her think I was open to children when I was not, just to keep the relationship going.
She deserved an honest answer.
It was not an easy process, nor a quick one, but I was forced examine my past, my choices, my beliefs, and I had to decide if I were willing to take a new path.
Pivot.
The ensuing pivot was one of the most profound of my life. The me of 25 years ago could not conceive of me today, happily married, father of three, my life utterly entwined with my family.
It sprang from the willingness to make a change.
