Have you ever decided to do something that just sounded out of your mind crazy? Have you ever decided to do something so crazy that you know your family and friends would probably try to talk you out of it? Come up with all the ways that it won’t work? So, you just don’t say anything. Some would say it is best to not tell your plans to anyone, just do it and let them find out when it’s done. I am there right now.
The idea of selling both of my homes, paying off all my debt, buying a camper, and a chunk of land or possibly a very small home, homeschooling my kids and traveling the country….. that will probably sound like total chaos in every person’s mind that I know, when they hear it. I will eventually get bombarded with comments about how my plan has changed again and I can’t make up my mind, how I shouldn’t home school, if this is financially responsible, if I can take care of my kids living in a camper, and the ultimate, “what’s your plan WHEN it fails?”
Guess what? It’s not going to fail. My husband would say this is the “woo woo” talking inside of me, that ultimate optimist that believes in signs from the universe, but it is ultimately true. If I say it’s not going to fail, it’s not. You wanna know why it’s not going to fail, because I will continue to choose to pick myself and my family back up and continue on as long as I want to keep doing what I plan to do. It is only failure if you give up. I have spent my whole life wanting to travel. I spent the majority of it not traveling because I was forced to stay. Those days are over. There’s nothing holding me back.
I have a dream and I have a plan. It is ever evolving, plans usually do that, but a plan is there, and it might change again and again and again, but I will make it work. This is the most excited I have been about something in such a long time, and I truly believe it is because my mind and my body are finally on the path it has always meant to be on. I don’t need a huge house, a white picket fence or all the latest and greatest toys. What my soul does need is the family I created, a roof over our heads, whether that be a camper, tent, hotel or house, and some good food. That’s it. Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. I want to live. I want to explore. My kids are going to have the time of their lives. My kids are going to experience life in a way most adults have never even imagined.
Yet here I sit, wanting to share my new journey with my friends and family….. with hesitation.
Does this mean I’m not confident in my ability? Does it mean I’m afraid? No. What it does mean is that I have spent my whole life with these people, and as much as I love what I am rapidly moving toward, it doesn’t change the fact that I know they are sad I am leaving. I know they will have fears and concerns, not because they don’t think I can do it, more than likely, it’s because they care about me and my family. It’s that guilt that is ingrained into each of us that we need to make our family happy. We need to put others first. Putting yourself first, now that is a really weird feeling.
At the end of your life though, all those people that survive beyond your life, they are going to continue living. They are going to eat their meals, they are going to go to work, they will gradually move on with their lives the way they need to. So why shouldn’t you do what makes you happy? Do you think your boss won’t find a replacement for you in a weeks time? You give and give and give to everyone else, you think you need to sacrifice for your company, they need you. Maybe they do, but your life is the only one you get. Are you going to live it for you, or are you going to support someone elses dream?
Let me ask you a question, do you know anything about your great grandmother or great grandfather? If you do know anything how much do you really know? The big stuff? If they weren’t some famous public figure, do you know anything at all? If you are just 2 generations away from your life being irrelevant, doesn’t that make you want to do what’s good for you and stop worrying so much about what’s good for everyone else?
Be confident enough to say, “this is what I want, and this is how I plan to do it.” And then be confident enough to say, “now that I think about it, I am going to dream bigger and this is how I am going to do it,” or even a step further and admit that you don’t know how it’s going to happen but you will figure it out as you go.
I am taking that leap and I think you should too.
Live Once. Lodge Anywhere.
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