The other day somebody mentioned to me how lucky we were to be able to take a trip around the world as a family.   Yes.   We were lucky. But blood, sweat and tears went into the planning of this trip.  Ron and I always had the vision, but after we lost Ryan, it faded along with the rest of our dreams.  For years, we sat at home discussing our ‘former’ vision and  each time we came up with one hundred reasons why we couldn’t-the money, the time, the language, the health issues, the safety of it, and it all boiled down to one word:  fear.  We were letting fear control our lives.

We considered the last time we buckled down to achieve something:  College.  Optometry  School.  Buying or paying off a house. Our marriage. Parenting.  This was tough stuff and we couldn’t have gotten through any of it on ‘intentions’ alone.  It takes the ancient feudal Japanese element of “discipline” to achieve these goals.

We spent hours together, shuffling numbers, tracking airline offers for discounted tickets, studying countries, travel warnings, checking with the CDC regarding health risks, planning a rigid road school schedule, following airline offers for discounted tickets, and in the meantime found ways to skimp, save and cut corners. We were looking ahead.   Way ahead!

If you are struggling with a dream, take little steps.  Ron and I have looked back on the darkest time in our lives when we had trouble getting up in the morning. We solved the problem by getting up in the morning.  Little steps lead to big steps.  And big steps lead to incredible memories.

As Billy Joel sings:
“But you know that when the truth is told,
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you”

So does Russia!  And Thailand, Japan, India, Singapore, China . . . . .

Great day!

Dawn