Monday Motivation + The Story Behind My Blog Name!

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       For as long as I can remember, I've heard the adults in my life say, "I can't wait for vacation!"

       While this seems innocent enough, and we can all agree that we look forward to beach vacations and road trips to fun and relaxing destinations, this phrase was almost always accompanied by something like: "I cannot WAIT to get away from work," or "I need this trip SO badly," or even "Lately I hate everything, I just need to get away!"

       My parents have been saying this for years, and even I have felt like a vacation from life and school and my friends would be time well spent.

       But what if I told you that this mindset, where you hate what you do and feel like you have to escape from the everyday, is one you created for yourself a long time ago? What if I said you are actually (yes, really!) completely in control of your life and how you feel about it?

       Well, you so, so are. You have all the power in the world to change how you view your life, your job, your workload, your relationship, and your space. Yes, you can move, quit, extend deadlines, cut ties, and renovate, but do we really want to do ALL that work if we won't feel any differently after?

       All it takes to create the kind of life you don't need to escape is to adapt a change in perspective.

       You heard that right. It's really that easy. Let me break this down a little.

       As a recent college graduate, I'm a good example for this. I had the whole world laid out in front of me. I had a shot at every opportunity behind closed doors, and I could have done anything I wanted, so long as I did the hard work and put in my best effort. Or, I could take the opposite road; been lazy, felt unmotivated and depressed after leaving college, or relied on others to walk me through the next several months. So, which road did I take?

       I didn't. I walked the train tracks, in totally my own direction. You see, train tracks are funny like that. They stretch on for miles and miles, sometimes criss-crossing with other tracks--once you come to a labyrinth of tracks, there's really no saying where any will take you, and that's what's so exciting. It can be really terrifying, too, but if I didn't take the plunge and try walking all the tracks, finding which one feels right under my feet, which ones take me in a favorable direction... all I'd have to show for my journey is a tired mind from standing at the station, afraid to choose a track and go. 

       That's the beauty of train tracks--while there are so many to follow, it doesn't matter which you pick, because it is easy to turn around and follow them back to where you started. I have found comfort and joy in choosing the right track for me. I graduated college just this May, but with even a tiny plan. I decided to enjoy my summer and reward myself for the feat I'd accomplished that is graduating from a 4-year university, by lounging around and sunning myself, but also by planning ahead.

       One of the best things I did was decide almost a year ago that I would create my dream life, and live it, too. I committed to being positive and doing what I had to in order to reach my goals, and I decided to stop at nothing to get there. Now, even though I'm not living in a solo apartment in a beautiful city with my cats and working my dream job, I'm living exactly how I should be living at this moment. I'm a freelance writer, I just landed an amazing internship, and am getting my life and dreams organized. 

       That's all it really takes to change your life so that vacation is simply a perk of life, rather than a diversion from it. So start now, and start living the kind of life that is a kind of vacation in itself--and be sure to pull over from time to time and get out of the car to walk some railroad tracks.

       You never know where you might end up if you don't walk a little further on. 

          Good luck!

          ♡ Olivia

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