In one respect it seems like ages ago, but in another it feels like it was just yesterday. There I was in my perfect little life, in a career that I loved (I was an enforcement officer for our court and a Reserve Lieutenant for our local Sheriff’s Department) and I was also in a relationship with the man of my dreams. My life was complete.

Then it happened.

One night while relaxing on the couch, my then-boyfriend who was then a full-time student with two more years of classes before earning his degree told me that he had been offered his dream job. In California. Twenty-five hundred miles away from our hometown. And not only did he want to take it, but he wanted me to go with him. To say that my head was spinning at the news is an understatement.

I had been raised in small town Michigan and never even considered living anywhere else. Plus, I had worked hard for 15 years to get where I wanted to be in my career, so how was I supposed to start over somewhere else? Did I even want to start over somewhere else?

I remember enduring many sleepless nights and longer-than-ever days as I considered what my life was about to become. No matter what my choice, it was going to change. If I decided to go with him, I would face unfamiliar surroundings, the task of finding and securing a new job, and having no friends or family at my side to make it all better.

On the other hand, if I stayed, I would lose the one man that I had prayed to God every night for. Either way, I lost. Or so I thought.

After literally months of struggling with my decision (he had already taken the job and was living in California), it suddenly hit me that I was never going to be happy if I didn’t change the way I was looking at this situation. Once I did, everything started to work out and I can honestly say I’ve never been happier!