Shakespeare and pivots

I was accepted into a study abroad program to London. It was 2008, and the plan was to go with a group of English students to London for spring term. The curriculum included taking my required Shakespeare class in England. We would have read Othello and The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer’s Night Dream right next to the Globe Theater.

But I didn’t go. As I tried to figure out how to finance this trip, I had a persisting unease that told me this program was not right for me right then. So I read Shakespeare in a basement classroom with a dull professor, trying (unsuccessfully) to muster enthusiasm. It wasn’t the experience I had hoped for (shocker).

I still haven’t made my way to the United Kingdom, and I don’t really love Shakespeare. But I learned how to listen to my intuition, how to understand when God was speaking to me and what They needed me to know and do.

As we enter a new season, it might not look the way you expected. You might need to pivot and do something that’s not as exciting as your original plans. And that’s okay. If the past two years have taught us anything as a society, it’s that we need to hold our plans loosely.

My decisions now don’t involve choosing whether or not to gallivant throughout London and the English countryside, but they do involve knowing myself and trusting God’s plan for me. Even though life is unpredictably and overwhelmingly difficult sometimes (or lately, most of the time), we can still choose to live with openness and an abundance of love. We get to choose what matters and lean into that, no matter when and where we’re asked to pivot.

You’ve got this, reader. I’m cheering you on.