Live the Life You Want to Live!

I'm reading the book, The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau and he poses the question: are you living the life you want to live?

This doesn't mean living a fairy tale life or a life that’s not realistic. After all, we do have to make a living, we have commitments to keep, and things to do that maybe aren't our favorite things...but are still necessary.

But if you could plan the perfect day for yourself what would it look like? This is one thing that James and I are wanting in our adventure. We are seeking to begin living the life we want to live. We want to create those perfect days.

If we keep going through the motions and living the same life we've been living for decades, we might go crazy. Ha!

It's not that life has been bad - not at all! It's been great. But we've had a dream to be on the road for ages.

We dream of days where we move from city to city (and even country to country) and explore new areas. We want to see national parks, historic landmarks, beautiful landscapes, and so much more. We desire to sit and watch a sunrise or sunset in a beautiful spot. We hope to meet new people, experience different cultures, and learn new things.

What are your dreams?

So what are your dreams? Maybe travel isn't your thing but maybe you have something you've thought about for a long time. What's keeping you from living that life? Are realistic things keeping you from living it or are excuses?

For many dreams, you have to wait for the right timing, you have to make preparations and plans, and you have to figure out how to make it happen. But sometimes the only thing holding us back from those dreams are our excuses. Things we tell ourselves to keep us from living our best life.

Some of the things we've told ourselves over the years

• Money - we don't have the money.
• Not practical - we have kids at home.
• We have to work.
• Family is all here - can't leave them.
• People will say we're crazy.

Can you relate? Do you have excuses like this too? But if you really want to make your dream a reality, you can figure out a way to overcome your hurdles.

Working through the excuses.

We don’t have enough money

We've questioned if we have the financial ability to do this but once we sat down and really worked out how much it would cost us to live the way we want to live, we found that it's not too much more than what we pay to live in our house now. There are bills we won't have to pay anymore once we take off and that will help offset some of the things that will cost more.

We have have kids back home

Sometimes I live with regret that we didn't travel more when our kids lived at home. How great would that have been for them! What a learning experience it could have been.

Yet the past is the past and we're looking for the future now. And we've tried to include them in trips that we've gone on since they've become adults and we've had so much fun with that. We plan to continue to include them in our travel by inviting them to places where we stop for a bit so they can come see the beauty that's out there as well.

We have to work

Work is obviously a big one. We all have to make a living after all. This is why it's so great to work for yourself and be in control of what you do.

James and I are so blessed to be self-employed and be in control of our schedules and our time. We can work from anywhere as long as we have internet so that's our plan! As we travel, we plan to work for however many hours of the day are needed. We definitely want to get enough work done to keep the bills paid and have some fun money. ;) But then we can spend the rest of the day exploring, hiking, sightseeing, etc.

We have family here

I admit that moving away from family can be a tough one. James and I have had many conversations about this.

We both have moms who live near us and we want to be able to help them with things and visit with them. Our two adult children also live here - and our daughter just moved back from overseas. Ooops! We love spending time with them and the thought of being far away from them is tough sometimes. However, we survived our daughter being far away so we know we can do it. ;)

We also have other family and friends that we know we will miss as well. But the great thing is, we can always come through here for a visit to see them all. I know none of them wants us to give up on our dreams just to live near them.

People will say we're crazy

And last on my list - people will say we are crazy. There used to be a time in my life when I really worried about what people thought of me. But that time is not now. lol! I don't care if anyone thinks we are crazy.

Your dreams and big ideas belong to no one but you, and you never need to apologize for or justify them to anyone. - Chris Guillebeau

Are you living the life you want to live?

This is the life James and I have dreamed of for years and we are determined to make it happen. We are determined to live the life we want to live and create perfect days as often as we can. :)

Now it's your turn to make it happen for yourself. Let us know if we can help.