Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Col. Chris Hadfield (ret.) speak at a book launch. I have to say, I came away with a few strange feelings.
He talked about his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut after watching footage of men walking on the moon. He has spent his whole life pursuing his dream and at the age of 32, 23 years after he saw Neil Armstrong take that first step, he accomplished his dream and became an astronaut.
That both inspires and terrifies me. My dreams aren't as lofty or as robust: I understand that people have different things they want to accomplish within their lifetime and I am certainly not comparing myself to him in that regard. What struck me though, what really hit home and resonated within me, was one particular thing he said during the interview:
'We have all been given a very precious gift; the gift of life. If you don't follow your dreams and make them happen, you do a great disservice to those who would help you achieve your goals.'
That gave me pause. I never thought about it like that. Now, I recognize that writing and walking in space are two very different things, but at the same time, they really aren't. His dream was to walk in space; mine is to write. I have started to accomplish that goal, albeit in tiny steps, and being able to quit my job and write full time is something that I am working towards.
In other words, the spaceman gave me a thumb's up regarding my life choices.
