The eagerness to begin this great journey is beginning to overtake me and while I know I am going to miss Colorado, I am overcome with a wonderful sense of peace and excitement for all of the hard work that has taken place over the past eight months and I can more confidently say that I feel ready for venturing out into the world unknown. I am ready to regain the imagination that I feel has been slowly choked out by the pressures and trappings of the expectations of a life that quickly passes to be exchanged for one that is liberating beyond words. I want to make this very clear to everyone, both those that know me personally and those that may have stumbled upon my blog, I am not running away from anything, but rather, am running towards a more fulfilling way to live my life. I know that this idea and concept is very hard for some to grasp and not everyone cares for extended travel, but I do know that each and every one of us has a dream to live out in their life and I hope that you will at least stop and take a moment to search out that missing element in your life by possibly regaining the passion for what motivates and drives you to be a better person, not just for yourself, but also for those around you as well. Wherever this adventure may take me, my hope is to become a better person daily by investing in people's lives by truly living for each day.
As much as I try and share with others the very raw and realistic measures that are accompanied with packing up your life, I feel as though the only other people that can truly relate are the very few that have experienced and gone through the same emotional highs and lows, fears and doubts, absolute bliss and euphoric happiness, stress and anxiety, and, through it all can clearly see what they are giving up in expectation of what they will be gaining. My first step in moving forward to achieve this goal was wrapping my head around the idea of quitting my career of almost 12 years, leaving behind the sense of so-called financial security with all of the perks and benefits that come with stable employment. The reason I say 'so-called' is because nothing in life is ever certain, and I'm sure more people can relate to this with the current state of the economy. Once I was willing to sacrifice a steady paycheck it became much easier to begin the process of removing the clutter of material items in my life, that, sadly were a high priority and motivation for many years. I cannot express the ultimate freedom that comes with adopting this new philosophy on life by rejecting the social standard of what should be a priority in my life by choosing the truly significant and lasting memories that will forever change me. Once I was convinced that I would be leaving HDNet the next big task was renting my house and selling practically everything I owned since I knew there was no point in paying to keep a storage unit because I still have no idea where this great adventure will take me and if I will ever be returning to live in the United States. The reaction to this statement–profound according to some–was received with very mixed reactions and despite explaining it extensively to some, it might as well have fallen on deaf ears. Through all of the conversations surrounding the dream I am in pursuit of, I have come to realize that I could care less in the approval or disapproval of what others think since people will continue to make assumptions and even tell you what is best for your life even when they know absolutely nothing about you. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the encouragement that most people have given me over the often painful lectures of how to live my life, but I am no longer willing to allow others to dictate or persuade me into their way of thinking. I hope that this is providing a better glimpse into the person I am and why I am certain of the absolute importance of living out a dream and not just talking about it.