After the Gap, Then What?

I came across this today on Twitter and found it apt for the start of 2014:

A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not in the branch but in her own wings. Believe in yourself.

I know the voice within me is speaking and I am listening. I may be closer than I think to the answers.

I felt that last year, I was carried by the love and support of family, friends, and friends of friends. But I also recognized that even their well-meaning suggestions have to give way to what I want to do with my life after my gap year.

Good old Google yielded the following definition for "gap," my keyword for study:

gap

noun

1.  a break or hole in an object or between two objects.
2. a space or interval; a break in continuity.
"there are many gaps in our understanding of what happened"
synonyms: pause, intermission, interval, interlude, delay, break, breathing space,breather, respite, hiatus; 

The second definition speaks to me: "a break in continuity." The last synonym states it well: "hiatus."

It will take time to make sense of things, to process what "the two objects" are, to go back to my "continuity." The gap served its purpose well. I had a good break. I found space to embrace myself. 

It is not over yet as I did not follow the calendar year, but already, I find my heart moving, searching for permanence. I will believe that though the branch I'm sitting on might break, my wings are strong enough to lift me up. The branch is not mine; it belongs to the tree.

The wings, however, are mine. And these wings shall set me free.