Why would you wait another year to get married? Haven't seven years been enough?

You've just been promoted to Vice President and you're quitting?

Are you insane?

That seems to be the one thought everyone agrees on lately. I must be insane. I mean, could so many people be wrong?

You bet.

It seems to me that everyone lives slightly vicariously through others. I mean when we hear good news or bad news relating to a friend or family member, we tend to put ourselves in their shoes and feel obligated to give advice. Well, maybe it's not an obligation but a sign of caring. Regardless of what it represents, lately I've been hearing a lot of it. Already overwhelmed with the shower of good luck that I've been soaking myself in, I've decided I can do without all the advice.

Not that I don't appreciate the good nature with which it's offered, but there are times in life where one needs to step back and take a look at the events from the outside and make her own decisions. This is one of those times for me.

One of the reasons I tend to have few regrets is cause I spend a lot of time thinking about each of my decisions. No matter how my new steps turn out, I want to be able to look back on my life and say that I thought I was doing the right thing. That I thought about it seriously and truly believed in it at the time.

I never believed in mistakes and I think life is what you make of it. I am tired of being fearful and I'm sick of living with or worrying about other people's expectations. I've been itching for some change and it seems I'm about to get my chances. All I want people to say is: "good luck."

I read a poem many years ago that was supposedly by an eight year-old girl. In the poem, the girl talked about how she likes to pray to God because as opposed to the other people in her life, God doesn't tell her what to do or what she did wrong or what's best for her. God just listens.

I'm not very religious but I liked the point of the message. There are times in everyone's life when she doesn't want to hear advice. When she doesn't want to hear what she should do or what she shouldn't. When she wants someone to just sit there and listen. Sometimes that's the best help one can offer.

This is one of those times for me.

Previously? Misjudgment.