choices

Thank you 2016!

/ Vagabond63 / 1 Comment

2016-in-reviewOh what a year it has been, there have been so many good things happening, it is hard to remember and recognize them all. I love to review my pics on my phone to remember where we were and what we were doing. I did that last night…when the house was quiet and all I could hear was the soft breathing of the one I love. Yep, Gertie was in the corner…we are housesitting this week in Costa Rica which translates to dog sitting and THAT is a blast.

We’ve covered a lot of ground, we’ve seen a lot of people and we have participated in some very cool things. This was a year for new events for us. We went to the JP Magazine Jeep-n-Drive; Trail Hero and the Rebelle Rally – all new events in 2016. We went to National Parks all over the US and I became a Junior Ranger over and over again. We attended a number of weddings that saw people join together for the future of all of us. We went deep sea fishing with friends, we got to go to Costa Rica – twice.

On the home front, we kept moving forward, kept moving our kids forward. We loved on our grandkids more than usual this year and that was awesome. We invested time and effort into our future retirement. We went to museums and made offshoot road trips to see people that mattered to us. There will be more of that this next year. We sent gifts and cards when we were thinking of someone, we tried to bring some joy in to others lives, whether on the track or off. We said “yes” when opportunities arose, I’m actively looking for more things to say yes to.

This is not about how cool our life is, it is about the choices we make. The choice to see the good, to spend the extra minutes to embrace the sunset or sunrise, the flowers, the abandoned sights, the beauty. The friends and experiences. On any given day, hell, on every given day, we work, we work to promote our living, our life, and our lifestyle. On any given day, we make that choice to see the good and the beautiful, to make someone smile, to make ourselves smile. It isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it.

Join me in 2017 doing the same. Start with counting the wins, ignore the losses, just count the wins. Then look at how to repeat them. My biggest wins come when someone says thank you – it means I did something right.

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Day 182 – Only Six More Months

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Quotes-page-0In just six months I turn the big 5-0.  Yep, time for my 50th birthday, another milestone among many.  I’ve been working hard to prep for that half century mark.  I have taken on more challenges, pushed myself farther, tried new things; but I’ve also been working on letting go of some things.

I have almost 50 years of thoughts and ideas ingrained that are not as healthy as I’d like them to be.  I’ve grown up believing that some people will always support you; that’s not true – instead I believe that you choose your supporters and hold on to them.  I’ve grown up believing that there are limitations to your happiness; that’s not true – instead I believe you choose your happy place, how to be happy.  I’ve grown up believing that there are certain acceptable rules of society, certain ways to live, certain ways to do just about everything; that’s not true either – instead I believe you choose how to live, to your limits, to your expectations.  I’ve grown up believing that there is an inherent good in people and the media and government will share that with you – I’m to the point where I still believe in the good in people, but I will find it myself.

I have chosen a lifestyle, a rambling, wandering, appreciate what you see when you see it lifestyle, and I love it.  In doing that I’ve left behind a lot, things I thought I would miss, but I don’t.  I thought I would carry forward the friendships I had in the same way I had them, you can’t – truly you are out of sight, out of mind.  Instead I’ve made new friends, people not as tied down to the local society.  I thought I would miss having a paycheck, I don’t – instead I have found a way to survive on my intuition and hardwork.  I thought I would miss having “stuff”; I don’t – it is actually very freeing – of time and money – to not have to shop for things.

Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that life can be lived on my different fronts – you don’t have to choose, but when you do, choose wisely.  Create the life that YOU imagine, even if no one else can see the vision.

At the beginning of this 50th year I set some goals, some I am meeting, some not so much.  That’s okay, it’s my life, I can change the goals as I see fit.  I have 8 new old movies watched; I have 19 new books read; I have 12 new places visited; I have 20 new things tried; if I wasn’t trying to meet some goals …would I have come this far?

With only six months left, I asked some friends on Facebook if I should have a “Birthday Project”  Something that I do for others – I’ve read of people collecting diapers for donations, or shoes – any ideas of what I could do to help others and to celebrate the conclusion of my 50th year?