There are things you should do, things you shouldn’t do, and every once in a while, things you have to do. It is this latter category of life events I’d like to explore today.

It slices into items you’re required to do out of obligation, and those performed out of necessity. Remaining are those that inverse the relationship and in turn return a demand upon your soul. These cause such a tug within your heart and soul that compels you almost against your will to pursue them.

I know little of life without this pull that both distracts and focuses the mind. It distracts in that it remains ever vigilant in capturing your attention. No matter where you go, it stands in the back of the room motioning for you to follow it out the back door to a new adventure.

In truth you’d love nothing more than to put down what you’re doing, throw off the chains that bind you in the mundane, and run out the door at top speed. But you tell yourself you’re trapped. That no matter how your heart desires, you can’t for one reason or another.

Its voice fades over time, but there it remains at the back of the room becoming you onward. It may not stand and wave its arms, but it doesn’t abandon its post. It will remain no matter how long you ignore its call.

I am convinced the regrets that plague us the most as we age are those things that place this inverse pull upon the heart. They don’t go away. They transform from calls to adventure to accusations of abandoned dreams.