Settling down on my beanbag, I unlocked my iPad and loaded up the website of one of my favourite travel bloggers. She had just released a new video was out. I settled in and was mesmerised for the next 17 minutes as I watched this vlogger share tips on the country she was in (details long since forgotten to me). To travel the world, live out of a backpack. To see and experience new things. These were things that I dreamed of. That I wanted. To live an extraordinary live full of adventures. To live, laugh, quest.
I almost didn’t pursue this dream.
The choice to go backpacking in 2013 was one of the best decisions I ever made. How different things might have been if I hadn’t pursued that dream.
Since 2011 it was something I wanted to do. I was ready, financially. I was at a good point in my career to take a break. So why did it take me so long to do it? It’s simple, really. I was scared. It didn’t matter how much I wanted it, that scared feeling won out.
The support from family and friends was overwhelmingly positive. They were behind me. What makes it so scary is that ultimately I would be responsible for how things turned out. Only me. If I got lost, that was on me. Overspent? On me. If there was no growth or adventure, me. That’s a scary realisation.
It kept me from pursuing this dream for a year. The funny part, if I had gone a year earlier, I would have been at 2012’s Royal Rumble. I would have seen Chris Jericho’s return in person rather than watching on TV. Lessons can come quickly to you at times. Yet it still held me back. I flew out to begin my adventures on March 2013.
Not that I regret it. I got to spend my birthday at Machu Picchu. I explored South America with a tour group full of wonderful people. It gave me the confidence to travel solo for many more months. I ended up in Guatemala. I moved in to outdoor education and fell in love with the outdoors. Lots of amazing doors opened up for me.
This is just one example of many things that I almost didn’t do.
At times we don’t give ourselves enough credit. We are responsible for how our lives turn out. For what we pursue, what mindset we take, how we choose to cope with setbacks and tragedy. If we back ourselves, we can do amazing things. And yes, it will be hard. We will fail at times. We will need to get back up and move forward.
Big ideas are scary. Things won’t turn out as planned. We may even come out the other side a different person – renewed perspectives, more experience, deeper understanding. We won’t have everyone’s approval. Some will want us to fail. We may even fail.
It can be easy to get ourselves caught up in these different thoughts and emotions that we stop thinking about an important element – what is it that we want, and is doing this thing in alignment with the life we want to live? Will it make us healthier? More rounded? Better able to contribute – such as becoming a better person, better husband, having more creative ideas, storytelling, skills, community building? That is what matters.