Follow Your Gut

When I tell people I am leaving my career and my life in LA to move to Memphis to become a public school teacher I generally get a combination of the following reactions:

• Shock:  "Wah??!?"  "For reals?"
• Questioning:  "Why did you decide to do this?"  "What prompted this?"
• Acceptance: "Congratulations" 

The "Congratulations" is generally followed by one of the following statements:

• #1 - "Wow, that's a big change"
• #2 - "That's very admirable"
• #3 - "You're following your dreams" "You're following your heart"

I generally like it when someone says the first - "Wow, that's a big change."  It's a easy statement for me to agree with.  And I usually respond with, "Yes, I know.  I'm excited about it though."

The second statement - "That's very admirable"...I'll let slide with a "Thank you."

But the last statements make me a little uncomfortable.  I don't feel like this is my life long dream come true.  In the past I've considered teaching as an option, as something I might like to do, but I haven't dreamed about it.  Then I start to wonder - Should it be my dream?  Am I not going to be a good teacher because it's not my dream?

I also don't feel like I'm following my heart.  I don't feel like this is my passion.  I haven't taught a day in my life yet - how can teaching be my passion?  I don't feel like the passion part of my heart is leading my down this path; the empathy part of my heart, maybe, but when people say "You're following your heart" I don't think they mean it that way.

I think, rather, I feel like I'm following my gut: 

In response to the questions "Why are you doing this?  What prompted this?", I think the most honest answer is "My gut tells me to."  In my gut, I feel like this is the thing I am supposed to do at this point in my life.

Regardless of the exact words of congratulations, the support I've received from everyone I've told over the past few weeks has been amazing.  Whether they congratulate me in shock, concern, or admiration - I can tell that they truly wish me the best and that they're sending a small piece of themselves with me on this journey.  The positive response has been so motivating.  Thank you everyone for your kind thought and words.