Five years ago I watched a movie that surprisingly changed my perception on life forever. In this movie was one simple, very short statement. However short, it left a profound impact. How many times in your life have you told yourself, "I am going to do this someday, or I will get to that someday?" Perhaps you said something like, "Someday when I have time." Listen up. Someday is a very dangerous word; it is really just code for NEVER.
If you just keep saying someday and don't create a plan of action to reach your goal, then it will always be just a dream, never your reality. Before you know it, life will have passed you by and time will have rendered you unable to achieve your goals. There is no guarantee of a tomorrow or what hardships tomorrow may bring. Stop living for the future. Instead, live in the present.
Someday is code for NEVER.
Now I don't mean you should spend all your money and not save for the future. What I mean is, don't wait to live your life until you retire. Don't wait for things to slow down to begin traveling to where you have always wanted to go.
If you want to go somewhere, if you really want to do something, begin making plans TODAY! If you want to visit Iceland but don't have the money, start saving NOW. Do what you need to do to make it happen sooner rather than later.
So as I said, four years ago that statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized I had been saying “someday” about Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies for seven years. Someday this. Someday that.
It was just then and right there that I looked up flights and hotels. I called my friend to say this wat the year. I was going to do this, and I asked if she wanted to join. Of course she said “YES!"
That one choice has changed my life for the better. Not only did I go to Banff and Jasper in 2014, but I fell in love with the Canadian Rockies. I realized it wasn’t as far out of reach as you would think. I went back again in 2015 and again this past October. It has truly become my one of my favorite places on the planet. I simply cannot get enough of her beauty. To think, I had put off visiting for 8 years! I had been missing out.
The best thing to come out of that decision is how that trip changed my relationship with my friend. Being in those majestic mountains for two weeks made our friendship so much stronger. She has become my rock and support system as I do my best to live out my photography dream.
I know we would still be great friends today without that trip, but I now have a photo trip buddy for life who is always willing to lace up her boots and head off on an adventure with me. I think we both would live in Banff if we could! But I would first have to talk my husband into the idea, and being that we just remodeled our house I doubt such an idea would go over well.
Living in Someday, NOW.
So what does this all mean for you? Think about your “someday,” your bucket list, your dreams. Create an action plan to get it done! Maybe it will take a year or even five. Either way, if you don't take action now you may never reach that dream.
For me, that dream is seeing as much of this world as I possibly can. I hope to visit every continent by the time I am 40 years old. That means I only have three-and-a-half years left to achieve that dream. I will need an action plan if I am going to achieve this goal. I need to begin executing it NOW so I can afford to go soon, and not just “someday.”
Traveling is important to me because it has made me who I am today. It has given me a perspective on life to appreciate the things I have. To live in the United States is a blessing, and if you never travel outside of her, you will never have a realistic idea about how the rest of the world really lives.
I had just returned from Zimbabwe in 2008 to people in an uproar over gas prices that were four dollars per gallon. I did not complain. The simple fact that I could still buy gas was good enough for me, and I gained that perspective in Zimbabwe.
When I landed in Zambia and crossed over into Zimbabwe, I saw people crossing the border to get food for their family; food was too scarce in their own country. I stayed in a hotel with no guests. Most of the world was too scared to visit. I witnessed a whole town have their power shut off by the government to keep a presidential candidate from speaking to the public.
Truth is, we are blessed to live in the United States. The world is big place, full of beautiful, stunning landscapes and filled with so many types of lives and cultures. Go experience it for yourself and expand your idea of what your world is TODAY, not someday.
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