Edit I Live on Revolutionary Road – We all Do

The movie, Revolutionary Road, hit me at a deep level.

I know that I am NOT fully living the life I want right now.

I have a great life by most people’s measures. I have a loving wife, daughter, mother, and family (including two cats). I have a growing business, which I believe is making a positive difference in people’s lives. I have a great & growing group of friends & associates whose visions and values are aligned with my own. I love where I live.

In short, things have never been better for me. I’m certainly not complaining.

BUT, over these past few months I’ve become increasingly aware that I can be better. As the pain of this knowledge becomes deeper, change becomes inevitable.

The movie, Revolutionary Road, does a great job displaying the choices we all have when we know we need to make a change in our life:

#1. Do nothing and pretend like everything is fine.
#2. Try to fit the change into our current life.
#3. Burn the bridges to our old life, and focus on what we want.

On the bridge to #2 from #1, we must decide whether there are certain parts of life we simply need to accept OR if there are parts of it in our control which we need to change.

On the bridge to #3 from #2, we must decide whether we’re willing to let go of the comfort and certainty that our current routine, social network, and lifestyle bring.

Jumping to #3 from #1 could be simply avoiding the core issues, and as a result you could run right back into what you were trying to avoid.

At the same time, there does come a point, when moving to #3 is required in order to fully make the change.

Knowing when, where, and how to jump…that’s what Revolutionary Road is about.

When I was a Sophomore at the Stern School of Business at NYU, I took a semester off. I seriously considered dropping, attending Maharishi University (http://www.mum.edu/), or moving to the middle of nowhere, USA so I could focus on personal growth.

I think this would have been me trying to jump to #3 from #1, but I’ll never really know. Instead, I focused on #2. I went to related conferences/retreats (http://www.bizspirit.com/,http://www.bizspirit.com/science/, http://www.veritaspub.com/, andhttp://www.dhamma.org/), read related books, and built friendships with like-minded people, etc.

It’s 7 years later now. A window for change is opening again. I’m not planning big changes in WHAT I do, but I am planning huge changes in HOW I am. More on this as it unfolds.

How have you made major changes in your life? Where you lived? Your significant other? Your school? Your job? What was it like? How did the changes go? Are there changes you wish you had made, but didn’t?