Did you ever go away somewhere, maybe on vacation, to a place you’ve never been before?
If you have you know, that the area is foreign to you. It could be scary, but you’re on vacation so you think of it as an adventure and it isn't scary but almost fun. Together with whomever you travelled with, you discover great places to see, amazing views, special people, delicious restaurants. You explore and create new, cherished memories.
For me, when I have a vacation, one of the most enjoyable parts is planning the trip. I do research to find out the best place to visit, great restaurants that sound good, local sites to see, shops to go to and so on. It starts to make the trip such a great adventure and the enthusiasm and anticipation builds.
In thinking about this, I began to wonder why we don’t carry that same excitement into our lives in other areas. For instance, when your job is stressing you out so much you just want to run away, what would happen if you thought of new ways you can approach your job, interjecting something exciting? When your relationships cause you such grief and wounds that you wonder if you’ll ever heal, what would happen if you sought the help you need to cope with the situation instead of constantly waiting for the other person to “get fixed”? When your children are challenging your every word, what would happen if we approached this as a time to explore new ways to handle the situation instead of reacting in anger?
Interesting concept isn’t it? Like these footprints in the sand, where we go, how we go, who we go with and how we behave, leaves an imprint, not only on ourselves, but on those around us.
I am challenging myself to turn moments of negative thinking into positive thoughts, moments of hurts to forgiveness, moments of frustration to moments of intrigue. I am sure I will stumble along the way, but each step of the way will be a new adventure and, hey, I just might not trip and stumble so much after a while.
I am ready… what about you?