Are you letting 'good' get in the way of 'better'?

The act of faith is not easy to make. It demands, among other things, that we gamble real life on hope, that we give up what we already possess, see, and understand, for something that we do not yet possess, see, or understand. It is not easy, or natural, to make the leap of faith, to learn to live life and draw support from that which is beyond what we can experience naturally.”

- - from A Restless Heart

Would you be willing to leave a perfect, comfortable life with the security of a good salary, support system, social life, etc.?  Many would stay within their current lives, instead of starting something new, that we may not know perfectly how things would work. Either way is good… but one would be better.

A Franciscan nun offered me a thought during my decision-making process about moving from NYC to Panama. It was that the hardest decision is when we need to choose and differentiate between good and better. And the most important principle is to never let good get in the way of better.

Deciding between good and better is a difficult task because we could potentially continue doing what we are doing and be perfectly happy. The challenge is that we would never know if choosing the other option of life would get us to a better place. For this reason, it is important to understand the intention of our hearts in leaning towards one option versus another, as well as to dedicate time for discernment and reflection.

In my case, my current situation at that time was my life in NYC and ultimately the USA. I was doing pretty well at work, while having such an active life in the city. I had different groups of friends and was giving back to my Church community as never before. It was hard for me to think about being in a better place than the comfort I gained in the USA, where I knew how to find a job, how to make friends quickly, and had a support system from every city I have lived in.

Here is where the second thought made the difference for me: do not let good gets into the way of better. Being able to choose which option was good or better was tricky and required much reflection. I took time to visualize each one of my options and then write down pros/cons, feelings and concerns associated with the life I imagined. Reality is that I could not think of any other reason to stay in USA other than the security of work and money.  That had nothing to do with our mission as Christians, which is love.

Panama offered me the support and love of my family. It has been more than a decade since I left Panama, and there is a lot of fear involved in going there. My family does not really know how I have changed; my friends are not used to have me as part of their lives; I have never had the need to find a job there; and Panama is a society that moves with contacts and social status and I have none of those. However, Panama is my home, where my heart is along with all my loved ones.

… So I chose Panama, a country full of unknown to me. All I can do now is to be excited about this adventure, trusting that God did not put this desire in my heart for no good reason.