A story

Once upon a time there was a woman who had a tough choice to make. In fact, it was one of the toughest choices she had ever come up against.

After a long time trying to make sense out of her situation, and after a lifetime of doing the right thing most of the time, always taking the easy road when possible and staying out of trouble, she made her decision.

It wasn't a good decision. It probably wasn't the right decision. In fact, her friends flat out told her not to do it. All of their reasoning was valid and true. But the commitment had been made. Pride held her to it.

She held her head up high, and shed a tear for the woman that was. She knew it would be a treacherous road, frought with peril and many twists and turns. Just looking down that road filled her heart with dread. She knew that at the end of the road was a mountain of hurt. She also knew that beyond the mountain of hurt was a valley where she could rest and heal. But first, the journey. She had already travelled the other ways and visited her other options and the issue was never resolved. She knew that travelling this road would change her forever, but that in the valley of rest was a new life and a fresh start.

She had no illusions that the brambles on the road would not cut her deeply. No illusions that she wouldn't need to spend a lot of time in that valley before she was ready to move on with her new life. But she understood the consquences of her actions. She made the bad decision because she saw no other way to get where she needed to go.

The journey begins today. You'll know the end when it is over. So will I.