It is almost noon on Sunday which means there isn’t all that much time before I have to pack a bag and head out for another business trip.
Shouldn’t be particularly long, two nights, maybe three if things get tripped up at all.
Travel is part of the job, I put oodles of miles in each week, most of them from behind the steering wheel of my car.
Most of the time I don’t mind doing it because it is better than being unemployed and I like the things that money can buy.
Kind of funny to hear me say, er, write that because I don’t think of myself as being particularly materialistic but I suppose there is a decent list of things I want that you need money to obtain.
Sometimes I think about making a hard copy of the list of stuff I want so that I can separate it into two categories called need and want.
The Difference Between Need & Want
My children and I have had many conversations about the difference between need and want because it’s of paramount importance.
It is part of creating priorities and establishing goals.
When you know what the difference is you can create a plan to go after those items and figure out ways to try and get yourself items from both sides of the list.
Sometimes I wonder if not having a hard copy of the list that I can stare at each day is significant or not.
Meaning I wonder if typing it up or writing it out and posting it next to the computer or on the refrigerator would help me find ways to get those things faster.
I haven’t done any sort of research so I can’t provide scientific proof or evidence to support either side.
What I have done is spent countless hours thinking about these things and other stuff.
That is what happens when you live life from the driver’s seat.
Don’t mistake these words to mean I am cool with sitting in traffic because that isn’t accurate. Because I spend so much time in the car I have grown more patient with being stuck inside my metal beast
Because I spend so much time in the car I have grown more patient with being stuck inside my metal beast, but if I have to be in it I tend to prefer some of the longer trips I go on, like the one I’m heading out on today.
The road I’ll travel today will take me through some very pretty land. I’ll see snow, horses, cows and green rolling hills.
If it goes as expected it will be an easy ride and when you add that to the scenery, well it can be a pleasant way to spend some time.
Should We Follow Our Heart?
I don’t know when I started wondering who first told people to follow our hearts and whether I like that advice or not.
Can’t tell you when I started to wonder if it was smart guidance or new agey feel good stuff.`
My best guess is it is tied into a desire to control things and that it started somewhere during a rough patch I went through during the last ten years or so.
It doesn’t mean I don’t think there is wisdom in listening to your gut because sometimes that little voice inside our heads is wiser than we are.
Sometimes that is the man/woman/child who keeps us from doing something stupid and sometimes they aren’t.
But life is never just black nor white so I find myself saying that sometimes that voice is the little push we need to take a risk.
And I do believe in taking risks.
Experience has proven to me that risk taking has provided me with some of the best and most rewarding moments of my life.
But it has also been a part of some real heartbreak.
Unfortunately you can’t quantify how much is allocated to either column. You can’t say it was 43% Â one and 57% another.
You just know it plays a role in both columns and do your best to manage it all.
Call that a written reminder to myself that we never have the kind of control over our worlds that I sometimes wish we did.
It is why I can assure you that I will follow my heart again and again, sometimes kicking myself but with less regret than if I didn’t.
Cue Han Solo, “It’s true. All of it. The dark side, the Jedi, they’re real.â€
The little boy who lives inside me cheers every time he hears/sees that.
He is the engine that moves the dreams inside my head to the forefront.
Confession:
Those last couple of lines, “The Force, it’s calling to you” and “Just let it in” feel like they were meant for my ears.
It is almost embarrassing to say/write those words because it makes me sound crazy, but I am not that.
I may march to the beat of a drummer who has no rhythm, but I am not unaware of the difference between reality and dreams.
That is part of what makes life interesting to me, finding the intersection of the two and doing things that help move me from dreaming about life to living my dreams.
Life In The Driver’s Seat
The one thing none of us has control over is time.
Doesn’t matter how successful we are personally or professionally we can’t stop the clock or really even slow it down.
That is among the hardest things for me to accept, as ridiculous as it may sound coming from a guy who is much closer to middle age than childhood.
The sound of the clock and the wondering about how long I need to spend on particular paths that I am not sure are in synch with the future I am trying to build.
I’m reminded of how often I use the phrase “need is a funny word….” Especially when it comes to things like a child nagging me for a popsicle. Teaches me something every time I say it.
Kids are good at making us think about those things. If you stop and listen/think about what we said there is a mix of silly and sublime.
Nothing is more powerful than time.
I’ve gone through explaining to my children want and need. Big thing to know.
How do you prefer to pass the time while driving?
Music is always a part of any extended time in the car, but what I listen to is usually contingent upon mood and area.