I did a lot of daydreaming during those hours driving a tractor. As time passed, I learned that daydreaming could be helpful! So I began using it! And that’s when magic started happening!
Eventually, you must choose to act or nothing happens!
And oh how things happened! For most, someday is some distant unbelievable moment. Always just beyond reach. For me, it is NOW!
Little Larry on the Farm!
That’s me growing up on the farm in NW Kansas. I remember driving a tractor around and around one field for days, feeling like I was doing mindless but important work. And I knew there had to be something more!
And now, I feel like I live a Universe away from that gentle beginning!
Someday...a dangerous word!
From the movie “Knight and Day”…someday!
For the month of November, I worked full-time with a tech support group to learn more about my travel blog. The support staff were amazing! Knowledgeable, helpful, good communicators, and inspiring to work with.
Many staff asked about my website as they saw the photos! When I told them I’d been traveling for 40 years, I’d hear a sigh on their end followed by some expression like “I’d love to travel more “someday”.
There is ONE thing you have to do if you want to travel someday!
One thing! For any “someday” dream, you have to do one thing: start!
For example, my blog was a mess. Something happened, files disappeared! One entire section lost it’s formatting and images. I had NO idea what to do. Initially, I was going to contact someone to fix it for me. Then, I realized that if someone else did the work, I wouldn’t learn anything! That inspired me to purchase a package for one month of daily tech support. Nervously, I made my first call and showed them the page that was, to me, completely wrecked.
The person I worked with asked me a couple of questions, found a place where one setting had been changed, and POOF! Everything was back to normal in about 10 minutes! All it took was starting! The rest of the month was amazingly helpful! I have a notebook full of advice they gave me. Now, I’m so much more confident in helping myself!!
And it all began by me taking the first step!
Learning from the javelin!
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I grew very frustrated throwing the javelin in college as I had no coach. I knew I was better, much better than my performance. But I had no idea how to get there!?
One day a teammate from the UK asked me a strange question: “What does a perfect performance look and feel like”? I had no idea how to answer that! I was so busy focusing on fixing mistakes, I didn’t know what a good performance felt like. In hindsight, that focus was helping me perform my mistakes perfectly!!
I began imagining a perfect performance, every detail of it! The feel of the javelin and the feeling in my body. The fluidity and grace of integrating speed and strength into the final push. The weather and the clouds. Everything.
Within a few weeks, my performance improved by 60 feet, I broke the school record by nearly 30 feet and made the Track and Field World List for top performers. The only thing I changed was my mind, my thinking, and creating the feeling of performing perfectly!
The feeling experience continues guiding me. I travel from that place!
I ignored my mistakes and imagined how my arm, my grip, my foot placement, how everything would synchronize into a perfect performance.
And I created a mantra of sorts. At the beginning before heading down the runway, I repeated to myself “loose as a goose, fit as a moose”. The image in my mind was of a cheetah! Relaxed in body, loose in my mind, everything fell into place! It was a magical experience.
And one I wanted to repeat in other areas of my life!
A colleague from years ago had a poster over her desk, reminding her constantly, of the quote to the left! Lost in the shuffle!!
Don’t be a “sheeple”! What do you desire? What do you want? Feel your way to it and watch what happens!
Pay attention!
If you want a clue of what you are focusing on, pay attention to the stories you tell. What energy are you expressing? Frustration, gossip, drama, distant conflicts you can not impact…or your hopes, your beliefs, what you desire, what you appreciate, what is working in your life! Subtly, whatever comes out of your mouth you vibrate with and that energy brings energy like it to you! Pay attention to your focus! What to you love and appreciate? What is working in your life? If you had a day (or a trip in my case), imagine and feel it flowing perfectly! That’s the energy I begin all my travels with!
Marathon lesson!
I’d been teaching a mountaineering course in Wyoming for the summer. When I returned, a friend suggested I join him in training for a marathon. I considered it a crazy request! Gradually, I realized that carrying a heavy backpack in the mountains for five weeks was pretty good training. I started running to see what condition I was in. And that went well!
Since I didn’t know what I was doing, I consulted with a friend who was an age group winner for training advice. Now, I had a plan and I began following it. It required me to include at least two if not three 20+ mile runs before the marathon to train my body on what that would feel like.
At this point, my friend had dropped out of training long ago! I was doing this solo. A couple of friends would join me for shorter runs and I loved the company. One morning, a friend asked me if I wanted to go for a run. I told them I had already run that morning. “How far” they asked. My reply was, “I ran 23 miles this morning.” Their reply, “You Are Crazy”!
Immediately I was aware that they had only two options. One would have been to say I would like to have that dedication and would like to run a marathon one day. Help me. The other option, to take themself off the hook and not be responsible for their own choices, was to make me “crazy”! Well, I am! I’ve experienced a lot of life-enriching “crazy” things in my life!
So, what day is it for you?
I hope you have a lot of SOMEDAY’s in your life!
Enjoy!!
Practice by playing
Many quotes can help you keep yourself focused on possibilities! Here are a couple that I remember nearly every day!
From Wayne Dyer and one of his last books: “For any future dream to become a present reality, you must assume the feeling of that wish as already fulfilled.” Daydream on that for a while.
Albert Einstein suggested that the most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe.
I remind myself before I leave my home for any trip that…”Things are always working out for me”…and they do! Magic happens. Things fall into place. What is remarkable is not that it happens, what is remarkable for me is when it doesn’t! That’s unusual!
Finally, I love the idea of this quote: “You will see it when you believe it!” I practice that often!
Like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, practice!
Alice Laughed. “There is no use in trying,” she said, “one can’t believe in impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice” said the Queen, when I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Someday is here!! I'm leaving soon for another adventure!
In case you haven’t seen this, here is a loose itinerary for my travels. It has taken a lot of time to research, contemplate, feel my priorities, adjust to local holidays, deal with dramatic differences in flight prices and so forth. My highlights?? People and connection! Experiencing new cultures like Padang, Bukittinggi and the Minangkabau of Western Sumatra. Bukittinggi is a matrilineal Islamic culture know for warmth and friendliness.
In Northern Sumatra, I’m going into the forest looking for wild Sumatran orangutan. In Northern Thailand, I’m taking a few days for some cooking classes before traveling overland into Laos.
The NW of Laos is calling me so I’ll see some of the hill tribe cultures, do some trekking, travel down the Mekong by Boat, and explore by motorbike in different areas!
Stay tuned! I’ll keep you posted through my blog. If you are curious about food, culture, climate, environment, tradition, markets, wildlife…you get the idea, please let me know.
Now, I feel so fortunate that I learned how to do this and am about to launch into another adventure that will enrich my life, bring me new friends and experiences and expand my experience of living a rich life, right now, every day!
The ending of my trip, I plan to be back in Bali. I’ll visit my friends, see the healers, tune up my body, savor some great coffee and spend some time on the beach before returning home!
Thanks for traveling along with me!
I love reading and travelling along with you Larry. Still have fond memories of talking with you and sharing insights and perception of life in the homestay in Ubud. Love Mark (and Inge and Brodi)
Hello and thank you for connecting! Yes, my favorite part of travel is meeting people like you and engaging in real conversation! More please! I’ll be back in Ubud the end of my trip for a few days before heading back to the US late March! Hope all is well in your world! Stay happy and healthy!