Me, Myself and I

I’ve had a lot of people in the past few weeks tell me there are envious of me and my position of being able to take off and fulfill my dreams. I can’t deny I’m both terrified and ecstatic at the same time. I’ve done a lot to get here and have so much more to do. All the support and positive feedback is so appreciated. Another question I get asked is “what does your family think?” The responses I have received from my family thus far are nothing that I expected. Something is triggered in other people when you jump off the ledge of life and aim for the stars,  people seem to come out of the woodwork like verbal fighter jets to shoot you out of the sky. The reactions from my immediate family are as follows, “Hmm, that’s nice.” “That’s a big move ARE YOU SURE” (I’ve only been dreaming of England for 5 years, are you really asking me this?) “Can you afford that?” “OK, but you’ve never really succeeded on your own.” 

That last one, when said, went through me like a knife. What counts as success? I had a university degree, served the community for a year, and had worked a handful of jobs since. Some paid enough, others didn’t.  I graduated at a time where everyone’s “safety net” of a job was in limbo. The fact that I never had to move home once during that time was something I was proud of. I may not be making what would seem “ideal” money but I was getting by, a talent that our generation seems to be getting a little too good at.

The negativity at times was stifling. Wait, can I do this? Should I? Maybe I just need to live somewhere else that isn’t in another country? Maybe I need to play it safe…that was when I knew I needed to stop using other people’s definitions of what is successful and start defining it myself. I looked at my mentors and heroes. They are all people who’ve gone against the grain, each succeeding in their own ways and each defining it on their own terms. One of my dearest friends, who runs the blog Minnesota to Costa Rica, decided to move her entire family from Midwestern America to Costa Rica. They sold just about everything they had and jumped. The transition hasn’t always been smooth, they have their hardships, but when I talk to her, her words radiate love and passion. The words of someone who is living their heart’s desire. 

I don’t want to sit here and fill the page with lazy clichés you’ve seen and heard a million times. The short answer to your question is yes. Whatever it is, just do it. Jump. Stop immediately with the excuses, the worries, and most importantly, stop listening to the waves of negativity that will inevitably flow your way. You know where you want to be and what you want to do. Trust that you will have the resources to accomplish it. If you keep making excuses, those excuses will keep appearing. 

Stop for a minute and think about the last person you met who had unfulfilled dreams. Or, even better, go randomly ask someone if they’ve fulfilled their dreams. How do they react? Those who have fulfilled a dream don’t mention how much it was, how lost they may have been at times, they remember the feeling of really living, something that very few people actually accomplish these days. How about those who have unfulfilled dreams? A look tends to cross their face, a sort of wistful longing or perhaps full regret. The should’ve, could’ve’s of the world are far too many. Don’t become the person who, 30 years from now, looks out upon their lives and sees not their accomplishments, but a sea of lost dreams. Step outside your limitations and GO.

tea drops,

samantha