There are some days when you know you’re getting closer to your vision of the life you want .
Those days seem to be the ones when you do something completely outside your comfort zone in the face of doubt and fear filled thoughts.
Today was one of those days.
I have a growing passion and desire to transition into the advocacy or lobbying world.
I love the idea of advocating for a cause, or speaking to the value of legislation on behalf of stakeholders (a word I learned today from the wonderful people I met with) that need a voice, whether they realize it or not.
This past spring I got a quick education about how fast a bill can move towards law.
If it weren’t for quick action on Resolve’s part combined with maneuvering by the lobbyists that look out for Arizona infertility patients’ interests, the embryo tracking bill could very well have been another obstacle to medically assisted parenthood.
Being a part of protesting that bill was exciting and terrifying.
It made me realize how little I know about the legislative process that has the ability to shape the laws that we have to follow on a daily basis.
It also made me appreciate the efforts of lobbyists that spend their days in the legislature watching the actions, listening to the words, and guessing the motives behind the actions of every person there.
Driving up to Phoenix for this meeting today was nerve wracking for me.
Not so much because I was afraid I would feel out of place or awkward.
More because I was afraid it might add some mass to the advocacy muscle that seems to be strengthening in me every year.
Talking to such passionate, professional people and envisioning myself being a part of that world, reminded me of another time I felt the same way.
At our consult with St. Barnabas more than 17 years ago.
It took an extraordinary about of courage for me to get on that plane to New Jersey for an IVF consult with one of the top 5 clinics in the country.
Who the hell did I think I was?
We weren’t celebrities.
We didn’t have money laying around, an emergency savings account, or an abundance of cash flowing in from anywhere.
It would take blood (mostly Lisa’s during what seemed like the never ending daily visits to the phlebotomist’s office), sweat and tears along with courage, determination and perseverance to actually pursue a cycle thousands of miles from home.
When I sat across from the passionate RE that would be handling our case, I knew we were on a path to a new future.
It made no financial sense.
But it was the right thing to do.
Even when our original cycle date of 9/11 got delayed by…well…9/11…we still hopped on the plane on 10/11.
And then again two months later when that fresh IVF failed.
It was uncomfortable enough the first time we went.
It was even more uncomfortable going out the second time knowing that we had only two ‘tier 2’ frozen embryos to thaw out.
But our vision was realized 10 months later–a little more than a year after our first trip to New Jersey, when our IVF baby came kicking and screaming into the world.
If there is a vision in your head driving you to do something that feels uncomfortable, don’t hesitate.
That discomfort could be the universe’s way of saying, ‘you’re on the right track.’