There is a beautiful song titled “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” by Colin Hay that used to describe my approach to life. A line from the chorus goes, “Don’t you understand? I already have a plan. I’m waiting for my real life to begin.”
That used to be my life: I had a plan, and it was to wait for my real life to begin.
Thankfully, a lot has changed since I heard that song a few years ago. Now my plan isn’t to wait for life to begin, but to simply live it here and now, as is. (A radical concept, I know.)
What changed my outlook on life? Three things: impending vision loss from the eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa, a growing relationship with God, and the slow realization that life is for living and doing and not sitting and waiting.
After years of waiting, it is time for action. I am leaving my job, community, and home to venture out into the great unknown. I’m kicking things off with a camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, then it’s on to D.C. and Pennsylvania in August for some time with family and friends. After that, it’s my pièce de résistance–a 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain called el Camino de Santiago.
The purpose of this blog is to 1) keep in touch with family and friends as I travel, 2) educate people about the eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), and 3) combine those two and help people understand what life is like as I walk through life and across Spain with “low vision.”
Ready or not, my real life has already begun. And I welcome you to join me on my journey.
Tags: Colin Hay
