Every good story has a beginning, middle and end. Here’s part of ours…

Years ago (almost 16 now) Adam had a pipedream: It was to live in an RV and travel the country with me. I thought he was absolutely nuts and there was no way I was going to live in an RV! He was “crazy” – turns out I was crazy, too…

Fast forward several years and the idea came up a second, third, fourth, ad infinitum times, “Wouldn’t it be cool to go live in an RV and travel” Adam would say. “Um, no it would not” I would almost always automatically reply.

Those who know Adam well, know that he’s stubborn – he’s been persistent in his RV ideas all of these years. And, those who know me also know I’m stubborn, so I have consistently laughed off each new idea – to name a few:

Let’s buy an RV, live in it after we retire and we can see all 52 states!

Let’s buy an RV, quit our jobs, live in it right now, and we can work odd jobs here and there to support ourselves.

Let’s buy an RV and we can use it for vacations when we have kids.

Until finally his most recent idea, that I may have actually helped contribute to…

Let’s buy an RV, live in it while you go to grad school and I’ll ask to work remotely.

It only took about 16 years to convince me.

But, it wasn’t actually convincing I needed. It was personal growth from the inside out. You see, I don’t actually think all of Adam’s ideas are crazy – well, maybe some of them, but those are different stories for a different time.

Adam would be the first one to tell you that I’ve wanted to move out of Virginia for as long as he’s known me, but I’ve also been the one to not actually follow through. Fear has been my biggest challenge in life. Fear of the unknown, fear of the known, fear of failing, fear of succeeding, fear of feeling fear, and even fear of not feeling fear.

There’s a saying I’ve heard a time or two over the years:

Let go, or get dragged.

Well, my first instinct has always been to be dragged – you may even be familiar with this story:

I’m fine. Nothing to see over here. Yes, I know my leg has fallen off and my elbows are scrapped, but I’m just fine. I didn’t need my eyeball or my big toe anyway. The weather is great! Doing just great!

Because letting go is hard. Change is hard. It requires letting go of control – the illusion that I even had control to begin with. I haven’t wanted to leave my family behind, or my friends behind, or what’s most familiar to me behind because fear has told me that “behind” means forever.

Guess what, letting go doesn’t have to mean forever. Change doesn’t have to mean forever. It just means for today; every moment, every second, every nanosecond for that matter is brand new; change is constant – why not just embrace it? Why not just lean and ride the waves up and down, and in and out? It’s a lot easier than fighting to stay afloat and not drown because remember the story – “I’m just fine!”

Face

Everything

And

Recover

I’ve learned that safety doesn’t mean a person or place for me to be ok. I can build it right here in this body of mine.

I’ve learned that home doesn’t have to be a certain familial dynamic or structural building for me to be ok. I can build on the home that’s always existed in my heart.

I can heal what I fear. I can grieve losses and challenge old beliefs. I am Empowered to create the life I seek. My experience has taught me there is a natural falling out of what no longer serves me, and in its place an open space of potential and possibility appears. The road ahead becomes an invitation and I RSVP back, Yes.

So, here we are. The night before we “shove off” as Adam calls it. Our house is scheduled for closing at the end of this month. Nothing holding us back. We’re ready. It’s not a vacation, but it’s definitely going to be an adventure not to be forgotten in our lifetime! Rocketed!

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” –J.R.R. Tolkien

–Kristin