Don't Let Life Pass You By...Live it Fully :)
One year ago today Brian and I left our home of 25+ years to travel to Mexico. One year ago already !! And believe it or not it was a spur of the moment decision.
Happy Anniversary / Feliz Aniversario
We had spoken for years about doing it, things like, "we should move to Mexico one day", but that's all we seemed to do is talk about it. So one day, Brian was out at a medical appointment, and I made the decision to DO, not just TALK. I went on a website called "Let Go", and did just that. I took photos of everything and posted "For Sale. Everything Must Go". Within 4 hours, Brian arrived home to find me loading our BBQ in the back of a guy's truck. Brian walked over, of course looking terribly confused, and the man stuck his hand out to shake Brian's hand and said, "Congratulations on moving to Mexico" :)
Brian didn't miss a beat, talked with the guy for a couple minutes, and we both waved as he drove off. Brian looked at me and said, "So this is it, hey?". I said, "Yep, this is it. It's time." Together, we piled the rest of the stuff together that we were prepared to sell.
That is just one of the reasons why I love him so very much!
I ended up selling just about everything, big and small. The only thing we have left is one small storage locker with a few items that we just cannot replace. But everything else is gone. On the last day in Vancouver, we were driving to our hotel room and I asked Brian to take a bit of a detour. Without asking where we were going, he followed my directions, knowing something was up. We arrived at a house and a lady came outside, smiling. I asked Brian if he could please remove the license plates because this nice lady was buying our car.
We smiled, holding hands, and walked to our hotel.
Life is about living, it's about doing, it's about loving, and regardless of the time that Brian and I have together, we have fully accomplished all three, and we will continue to do so as long as humanly possible :)
Life is not about worrying "Where will the kids stay when they come home?"(They don't really care:), "What about all my stuff?" (You can buy more if you really want it), "How do I just pick up and leave?" (You just do), "What about my citizenship and medical?" (You travel home regularly so as not to nullify either).
I can hear some of you now, "It's not that easy to do". Actually it is. It's more than easy to do, it is however very difficult to fight the ideas that hold you back.
Please live your life, follow those dreams, do what you want to do, don't let life pass you by, and as my friend @drkent says, live with your eyes wide open !!
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Oh Lynn such an awesome story of how both of you just decided to do it.
A lot of people would have paused and thought things out but you went ahead.
Thank you so much @maverickinvictus! Brian and I each met our match when it comes to jumping first, and looking second haha
It is a good way to enjoy life Lynn :)
Just wanted to peek in and see how you are doing. I have done the up and go thing a few times. I was much younger then, I always thought I may do it again when I am older.
Seems there are a lot of travelers on Steemit. I am enjoying following along for now.
Anyway sending love and blessings to you both.
Thank you so much @headchange! Things do tend to feel a bit "much" sometimes, the older we get, but I'm so glad we did this.
Do it :)
Very valuable advice, @lynncoyle1.
Personally, I waste way to much energy on the ‘what if’s’. Sometimes you’ve got to stop thinking and just take the leap.
Glad you guys had the courage to just do it and make your dream come true!
Thank you @simplymike! Yes, there will always be "what if's" regardless of the time you take trying to think of all of them. I always ask myself, "what's the worst case scenario?" and then the chances of that happening are slim to none. Every other outcome then seems really manageable :)
Life really is about learning, and sometimes you just learn from failure too. No biggie.
Hope you are on the mend!
Well done . sometimes enough talk has been done and time to get off the pot . When you make up your mind you just go for it LOL Katy bar the door ! Congrats on the one year the hard part is over
🤡
My father always said, in his oh so eloquent way, "either shit or get off the pot" LOL
I always knew it was the right choice, because we never had a "hard part" at all :)
That's great . I am so glad for you both , you just don't know.
What do you think of the clown face , cute huh
@wolfhart, stop the madness :)
Yes yes yes!! So much kuddos to you guys for doing what youve wished to do! Couldnt agree more girl, LIVE LIFE FULLY! Every damn day! Loves and hugs! :)
Every DAMN day is right! See?? That "damn" smylie2005 haha :)
I had a feeling you would appreciate this message :)
Well Happy Moveiversary? LOL I think you guys made the best decision, from what both of you have mentioned. If you wait things never happen and life passes you by. I can only imagine what went through Brian's mind when he saw the BBQ in the guy's truck.
hahaha he told me what was going through his mind, but I can't repeat it here :)
ROFL I love it.
Oh, what a thing to do! It always amazes me when people have the courage and resources to make incredible things like this happen! Feliz Aniversario en Mexico! 😊
Thank you so much @thekittygirl! Every single day Brian and I look at each other at some point and one of us says, "geez, we are so lucky"!! Today, it was over a simple bike ride and stopping for some sushi ;)
Wow! You are so brave. I like it when you ssaid Life is about living, doing and loving. The story you've shared is really inspiring.
Thank you @kneelyrac; I appreciate that so much! :)
I laugh. I cried. Again lol! You are indeed living your life and that is just inspiring! There is just love from both of you, commitment and trust. I think the matter of why you are doing it far outweighs the hows and ifs. It's still shocking when what you have been talking about is finally realized unexpectedly.
Shouldn't have sold the Nikon though, lol!
Congrats and happy anniversary!
haha you're such a crybaby ;)
Yes! You get it 100% and actually brought in the idea of trust that I couldn't quite put into words.
UGH! My camera! :)
Thanks for your comment @leeart!
I know lol! As i grow older it seems I am becomung more so.
Everything is a fruit of your love for each other.
Phone cameras are awesome nowadays anyway 😆
I too find that I cry at the drop of a hat the older I get. I hate to put it in writing, but I think it's menopause :)
There are stages of aging and that includes acceptance lol!
Oh @leeart, I'm at the acceptance stage for sure, I just don't like it lol
See, now, this is the way things work.
I want to move or do something, the likelihood of it happening is, at best 50-50.
The wife decides she wants to move or do something, then it happens. That's how we ended up where we are now, that's how we got to where we were before. I guess I did make it possible to make the move before that, but we were moving away from Southern California to Oregon with two small boys (and I was the only one familiar with the place). So, that one was on me.
The only other move we've made we were forced to do because they moved I-5 closer to the apartment we lived in.
The good thing is, I'm at home more than she is, so the chances of me coming home from anything to find she's selling the BBQ (in it's condition, good riddance), is pretty slim.
Well, congratulations on taking the initiative and taking the plunge. Just how often have you made it back to Canada since you've been down there?
Hey Glen, I guess there is something to say for a happy wife, happy life. My ex planned for months to do something fairly simple, like a car purchase for example, so I revel in the fact that Brian is more like me. My mother has always called me a gypsy, but she says it with awe and not admonishment. I think she has plenty of regrets regarding her adventures or lack of in her life, so I like to think that she is proud of my spontaneity.
I too would move if I-5 moved closer to my apartment. I'm guessing your wife will want to move if your son and family go too far...whenever they do move out. That's not a jab by the way :)
Why is it that we hang on to bbq's for so long? Is it because they are brutal to put together I wonder :)
In our case, the barbecue is larger, so in order not to disassemble it, there would need to be a truck to haul it with, and we don't have one. We used to have a trailer, but because we didn't use it all that often and it was just sitting outside taking up space and slowly rusting, my wife sold it off.
As far as the move because of I-5 went, we didn't have a choice. The apartments were going to be knocked down, even though they weren't really in the way of the new freeway. They were, apparently within an approach zone, or whatever they call it. Saddest thing about that was it meant the Jack In The Box that sat straight up from where we lived had to be demolished. :)
I haven't ever taken months to buy a car. Usually they sell faster than that (unless you're going to buy new, I suppose), but it has taken a few weeks from the moment we discussed buying one to the time something happened.
I once pulled off a three car trade for three more cars, without a loan or more than a few thousand down.
@glenalbrethsen, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to wait on my response. I'm in mourning at the moment. RIP Jack In The Box. I just can't...
Yep. Major tragedy any time a fine dining establishment is struck down in its prime.
However, this was over 25 years ago, so it's long, long gone, and if you were to pass by there today, you'd never even know it was there. I suppose they could have preserved it by making it a part of the support structure for the freeway overpass. That would have been very unique, though I wonder how shake proof it would be inside with all the cars passing several yards above it. :)
lol... so true... I think many of our gender will see the wisdom in this statement ;)
Hey Dave, like I just said to Glen, "happy wife, means a happy life". It's a bit tongue in cheek, but why is it I wonder that women/wives get to call those shots, or I wonder if that's commonplace? I know so many women who seem to have a need to plan, plan, plan, and perhaps because I spent my years teaching, where every minute for 10 months of the year, was planned out, that I have absolutely no interest in planning anything anymore. Also, my ex was a huge planner and had to "research" everything forever before making a decision. Brian and I decided to buy our restaurant over a pitcher of beer. A bit different, don't you think ? :)