Returning to Earth. Or Atlanta. Close enough.
I spent New Year’s day worshiping the Porcelain God but not because I’d celebrated on New Year’s Eve. No, my body has a way of freaking out all on its own and opted to do so a day after we returned from our trip to Spain. For the next two days, I felt disinclined to lift my head from the couch or bed save for the inevitable Call To Prayer. what a way to be welcomed home! If there’s a positive note in this episode, at least I waited until our vacation was over to get sick.
I began to think that perhaps the routine of going back to work might help speed my recovery. Then That got me questioning my routines and the effect that travel has on them. Never do I return from travel the same person as when I left. I love exploring new places and cultures. I love breaking out of the bubble I hole myself up in every day without knowing it. When you steps out of that bubble and consider how big the world is – how expansive your choices are if you only consider the bigger picture – that’s a powerful thing. The stage you’ve been playing on doesn’t look as big as it once did.
What are you settling for? How do you choose to spend the precious fleeting moments of life that you’ve been gifted? What goals or dreams have been in front of you all along, yours if you’d simply notice?
Travel also grants an appreciation of the things that matter. I was fortunate to have my family along for this journey. I value a stable, familiar environment for my kids to grow up in. At the same time, I want travel to give them a taste of their wider choices and options, as well as an appreciation for what’s in their own bubbles. Are they going to dream small, or big? What will fit inside the walls or bubbles that surround them?
As humans we fall easily into habits and routines and often forget that there is so much more to life. We focus too small. We put on blinders and then complain that that’s all there is. How silly.
So, after this particular trip abroad I’ve decided to fight the urge to fit comfortably back inside my bubble. I will question myself when my first response to an interesting new idea is “well, I can’t do that …” because that’s my bubble talking. You get what you go after, and when you prove to yourself you can survive a trip outside of your comfort zone then those walls will never define you again.
Am I going to get my head back into the game? My head will be in the game, all right. It’s just that the game has gotten bigger.