In 1990, I made my first trip to Boston to teach at a now-defunct learning center. I had spent several days with my friend Chris in Connecticut and then took the bus to Boston, arriving early in the evening.
When I got off the bus, it was sleeting. I began walking to the YWCA, the cheapest place I could find to to stay. The streets were getting slippery, I was carrying heavy luggage, and my glasses kept sleeting over. There were few people around and the ones I asked for directions couldn’t help me. I must have walked in circles for an hour until I finally located the Y. I was in tears when I checked in.
My relief was short-lived as soon as I saw my miniscule room which resembled (I imagine) a convent cell. The bathroom was a larger shower/toilet facility down the hall. I spent the weekend wondering if I had taken leave of my senses.
A dozen years later, I recalled this experience as I flew to Boston again. The Boston Center for Adult Education, where I was teaching this time, had reserved a room for me at the Westin. When I entered my room on the twentieth floor I discovered it was the most gorgeous hotel room I’d ever stayed in. It was dark when I arrived this time too, but now I had a view of the city lights which was breathtaking. Spending the evening in all that splendor was a sensual pleasure.
In the morning I got up and walked to the window to open the drapes. I pulled them back and laughed out loud when I noticed a sign not two blocks away that said YWCA.
I don’t know how you measure progress, but I know that moving from the Y to the Westin looks like progress to me. I also know that if I hadn’t been willing to put up with the Y in my early days, I wouldn’t have made it to the Westin.
So what discomfort have you been avoiding that’s keeping you from realizing a new dream? The enemy of success isn’t failure, after all. The enemy of success is comfort which keeps us tethered to a bearable, but not soul-thrilling life.
With the brand new decade ahead, this is the perfect time to commit to taking on a new assignment—one that takes you higher and farther. Are you willing?
The enemy of success is comfort which keeps us tethered to a bearable, but not soul-thrilling life.
I love this quote. Yes, I am willing and ready to take life to the next level. I have been dealing with some Y-sized challenges lately. Looking forward to Westin in the near future.
Rasheed
How true Barbara,
We decided to spend a couple of years in New Zealand with just the one salary so that I could spend time with the children while they are still small.
The one salary means that we had to cut right back in order to afford to rent a lovely house on 3 acres of beautiful land way North of Auckland.
Our lives now revolve around each other, the beach and being involved with the tiny school where my 6 year old recently started.
NZ is too far away from our UK/Norway roots to stay forever, but we don’t regret for a moment giving up the nice jobs/nice cars/eating out etc in exchange for our blissful time here.
I have had the time to develop my ‘internet/blog’ skills and who knows what we will do when we go back to Norway (and who cares, something will turn up!)
We are privileged to be able to choose where to live, many don’t have that choice (I met my wife while working in Uganda) Be a shame to squander the privilege!
Take care and thanks for a thought provoking site Barbara!
Barbara, I stumbled across your tweets and really like them. I am copying a few phrases to my on-line daily diary. I guess I live a passionate, risky life as a freelance novelist (new novel on Claude Monet coming out in April — CLAUDE & CAMILLE: A novel of Monet)… even with this life, sort of baring my soul on the page, risk taking is sometimes an issue for me. Anyway, thanks for the site and tweets!
Glad to stumble on your site through a link in Chris Guillebeau’s newsletter.
“I also know that if I hadn’t been willing to put up with the Y in my early days, I wouldn’t have made it to the Westin.”
Indeed, I believe if you have been staying in Westin all the while, you probably won’t appreciate it as much as you did now.
Thanks for sharing with us this meaningful story of yours.
This is great Barbara – I love it!