Change. Doesn’t that word just make you want to cringe? There is something about stepping outside the boundaries of the familiar that makes people uncomfortable. The simplest changes can sometimes feel like the biggest deal, and we start to freak out. Let me clue you in on something here: happy endings don’t come to the person who is unwilling to pursue them. If your life was to go on without changing from the normalcy of today… Well, that’s one boring life you are leading. Little changes are good; big changes are even better.

Just like Belle had to release the desire “to return to the life that she knew lately,” you and I must release our desire to shrink back into the comfort of familiar. It seems strange to me that so many of us desire that fairytale romance and adventure while so few are willing to take the risk necessary in pursuing it. 

It all began with a change. Belle found herself captive in an enchanted castle, Cinderella dared to venture outside the home that was her prison, Ariel traded her fins for a pair of legs (talk about change)… What would have been the outcome of Beauty and the Beast had Beauty never dared to enter the castle and actually meet the Beast? Where would Cinderella be today had she not chanced to attend the ball? And would the Little Mermaid have ever been satisfied if she had never attempted to walk on land? Where will you end up if you do not take a step outside your comfort zone and open your heart to the adventure that beckons you beyond the nearest horizon?

Go ahead and take the risk. Take that uncertain step into the shadows of the unknown. Grip the hand of the God who has promised to walk this journey alongside you, and chase the dreams that are stirring in your heart. Move on. Live freely.