Well, my dearest readers: THIS is an important one! It might, at first glance, not seem all that critical:
“HUH? Ya’ mean in order to lead a truly substantial life ya’ want me to…..like, just GO OUTSIDE?”
Well, yes. While this is true, I also don’t mean this in the temporary or immediate way; what I am suggesting is you really marinate on WHAT your “outside” will be!
Stick With Me….It Will Soon Become ALL.TOO.CLEAR.
Let me clarify by using an example: my family’s “outside” is Nessie. She’s our motorhome……and we ADORE her.
It wouldn’t be at all too dramatic to say Nessie has completely changed our lives! Seriously.
You see, NessieTheNavion, as we call her, forced our family to switch it up; to change gears….
(see what I did there???)
Nessie, dear readers, has reminded us that amongst the crazy and chaos of everyday life……IS.THE.CALM.
Ahhhhhhhhhh yesssssssss………………that Nessie is WISE.
She’s reminded our family to take in the scenery. Stop to smell the roses (literally!) — to just follow where the road takes us and go-with-the-flow.
It’s not so easy to do these things! Do ya feel me? In our everyday lives of rushing to work, getting the kiddos to school, meeting deadlines, answering all the emails (MY GOD WILL MY INBOX EVER BE EMPTY????), picking up the kiddos, getting them to their activities, doing homework, getting dinner on the table without blowing your brains out…….
WELL: am I right here??? Everyday life is CUHRAZY!
In all the chaos of that, Nessie has forced our family to do/realize the following:
⇒ Spend Time Together + Feel United
⇒ Be One With Nature More Often (and, therefore, teach our son the importance of this!)
⇒ Set Family Goals: where do we want to be together next summer? Christmas break skiing adventure? Springtime desert wildflower bonanza experience? Anniversary beach camping sans kiddo? These goals always provide something to look forward to!
⇒ Let Go! We’ve learned to stop obsessing if things don’t go as planned; we let the universe and sweet ole’ Nessie guide us to where we’re intended to go if something comes up or things happen beyond our control….
⇒ Push Boundaries: life on the road has really allowed our family to learn how to live harmoniously (errr – most of the time, anyway!) together in a VERY small space! It is def a learning curve, but once you practice this enough you get really good at it and this then allows one to marinate on what is really important in life! [bctt tweet=”It really is impossible to blossom or evolve as a person if all you’re ever seeking is the status quo….” username=”@TaraHoward17″]
⇒ Minimize Belongings: this is a BIG one! Living the RV lifestyle has truly made us realize how little we need in life to be happy, get around, get along, and be fulfilled! I’m not entirely sure that without beginning the RV lifestyle, we would have actualized this concept and carried it over to our home, too (more of that on a later post!)
Travel + Adventure = Simplicity + Awareness!
⇒ Restore Faith In Humanity: in this crazy world we live in where (all-too-often) nothing seems to make sense, RV-ing and adventuring on the road has really restored our faith that human beings are pretty dang cool. We meet the NICEST people on our travels, and because RV life does come with unexpected outcomes at times, this type of lifestyle reminds a person that there are always others out there willing to help, give advice, lend a hand, or pay it forward. I’d need 100 posts just to cover the examples of this in just the few years we’ve been adventuring with Nessie!
Trust me: if you get out into this big world and seek adventure – you too will realize this!
⇒ Life Is Short, Do Stuff That Matters: Nessie has reminded our family that life really is short, friends! Get outside and seek some sort of adventure!!! Sure, it might not be RVing for you, but whatever it is – SEEK IT OUT! We were inspired to get more proactive in our adventuring via some other vloggers out there who live this lifestyle — and we now are planning on RVing full-time once hubby retires! But until then (since that is a ways away!) we aren’t waiting for retirement!
We’re seeking living life filled with enterprise and fortuity NOW….
⇒ What Are We Valuing? Meaning, are we really putting our energy towards things we value? That’s the whole point, riiiiight???? Life (for us) on the road has reinstated what we SHOULD VALUE…..and the things we SHOULD’NT: more time together, more play, more laughter, more meals together at a table, more movies together as a family, more chats around the campfire, more adventure-seeking as a unit……AND THEREFORE less stuff, less focus on money, less stress from work, less rushing around, less time inside, less arguing, less worry, and less taking life so dang seriously!
Getting outside reminded us to find humor in everything!
⇒ Take More Risks! This is one as a family unit we have realized is waaaay more important than we realized! Taking more risks can mean many things to many different people, so see the bigger picture, here! Don’t just marinate on this concept from my own perspective, but visualize it in the way it can affect your own life!
For us, it meant our being away so much also meant sacrifices: to our social lives, holiday time with family, and more missed school than normal. But it also meant more time with the people we love the very most (each other!), breaking tradition and living life on our own terms, and reminding our son that life SHOULD be met with adventure and change! Change is inevitable in life, and it is how we approach this change that teaches us to trust in the universe and know it has our back! Taking more risks and welcoming change has taught us (and most importantly our son) a level of confidence that is priceless….
Taking more risks as a family also allowed us to trust each other more, and to trust that no matter what the outcome will be, we will be together — and THAT means we will be alright….♥
So, what does all this mean for YOU, dear reader? I bet ya thought I’d never ask! 😉
It means that although I cannot recommend the RV Life enough (!!!) I can ask you to marinate on this subject matter and how it might work for your family! What does your family really enjoy? Alternatively, is there anything you think would create the kind of result my family got from RVing? REALLY immerse yourself in this thought, because it is super important! Ya might try meditating on it, since you’re such a excellent meditator by now!
It could be tent camping, or ski lessons as a family, or a pottery class, or a neighborhood game night each week, or boating together; it could be planting a veggie garden or taking a cooking class together, learning to play an instrument together in a music class, antiquing together (we enjoy this one!), rehabbing together, going to the gym together, or better yet volunteering together! It can be ANYTHING, but set yourself up for success by choosing something you think everyone will enjoy!
We knew that all of us highly valued nature, and I grew up camping religiously and wanted my son to experience the great outdoors like I did as a child. So, we tent camped for many years before taking the leap into a rig!
So, go with that thought process and don’t just SAY you’re going to do it but DO.IT!!!!
You will have something to look forward to each week, you will feel closer as a family unit, you will learn to live in a more intimate environment with each other in a more harmonious way, and you will create lasting memories that will not only be remembered forever but teach your littles (if you have littles)Â true life lessons that they will then teach to their children, and their children’s children…..and so on and so forth.
You will have created something beautiful: a family legacy.
So, go on you! Get Outside! It won’t take long for you to realize the utter importance of this totally achievable yet monumentally impactful step to leading a much more substantial life!
Always Here,
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