I’m feeling really emotional and sappy about my husband. You see, last week we finished re-watching the entire The Office series from beginning to end. That means this week I’ve been feeling the wide range of grieving emotions that comes from, well, you know…a tv series coming to an end.
It’s funny what suddenly gets ahold of our attention. What reaches out and grabs us. What wakes us up. What inspires us.
Throughout the nine seasons of The Office, I loved watching the relationship grow and develop between Jim and Pam. I loved watching it because I related to them. I could relate to their love, to their journey and to their struggles.
It’s funny, though, how you can be watching people’s lives play out in front of you, whether real or on tv, and find yourself relating to them without ever really stopping to evaluate why. Sure, I knew I related to their love, as Mike is a “Jim” in every way – He is thoughtful, loyal, totally in love and goes out of his way to show it.
As I sat watching the series finale, however, Pam said something in her final “interview” that resonated with me so profoundly. Pam is asked if she watched the Dunder Miflin documentary (the premise of the show), and this is what she said.
I stopped watching, it was just too painful. I kept wanting to scream at Pam. It took me so long to do so many important things. It’s just hard to accept that I spent so many years being less happy than I could have been. Jim worked 5 feet from my desk and it took me four years to get to him. It would be great if people saw this documentary and learned from my mistakes. Not that I’m a tragic person. I’m really happy now. It would just make my heart soar if someone out there saw this and said to herself, ‘be strong, trust yourself, love yourself, conquer your fears, go after what you want and act fast, because life just isn’t that long.”
When Mike and I met, we quickly fell hard for each other, soon after were engaged, and without letting a moments hesitation or doubt get in the way, were married. The decision to become Mike’s wife was one of the biggest, yet easiest and quickest decisions of my life. I didn’t over think it. I didn’t stress over pro-con lists. I didn’t anxiously consider every possible outcome. I simply fell in love, and made a decision.
The decision to get married, though, was probably the last time I took a leap of faith with such confidence. I’m more likely to worry myself over every detail of a matter to a point of inaction. No, not just inaction – stagnation. Like Pam, it is easy for me to choose to be less happy than I could be, simply because I let fear or insecurity or doubt get in the way.
I don’t know where you are at in life. Maybe you are the type to move, act and be brave. Or maybe you are more like me and let all your planning and worrying tie you into a twisted knot of anxiety that keeps you from going after what you really want.
If you are the brave type, then maybe leave a comment about what inspires you and what keeps you going after the things you want. I’d love to hear from you.
Or, if you are like me, then maybe you will find this video as inspiring as I did. No matter who you are or what you believe (or don’t believe), this video might inspire you to find peace, find bravery, and chase down a dream.
And babe, I know you read this so let me just say: you make me feel brave. Nine years ago we knew what would make us happy and we just went for it. I don’t ever want something as dumb as fear or worry to get in the way of our next big adventure.
I can’t wait to see where we go next.
hisgirlfriday 