Day 40

Day 40

Day 40: Grasping for more

Thursday April 7, 2011

So today is officially my last day of this project.   Just as our last day of vacation nears, I don’t want it to end.    I’ve enjoyed making an effort to think and breathe as a tourist each day, even if the effects do not last for the whole day.  It was almost like a mindfulness meditation, how I could reflect on each day and focus on just one aspect. 

I am sure I could extend this journey for longer, thinking of more ways to fit each day into a tourist mentality.  But if I did, where would the end point be?  Same with a vacation, if it got extended to no end in sight, would it have the same meaning? 

I guess there is a sense of wonder and fun in things being time limited, knowing it is an end point.  Vacation is a paradise mentality, which we visit on average 1-2 weeks a year.  When paradise mentality switches to reality mentality, it does not appear to hold that same freshness, newness, and excitement.

I truly sound like Debbie Downer as I say that.  But there is one caveat…we can have multiple vacations or mini breaks per year.  As Timothy Ferriss suggests in his book the Four Hour work Week, the New Rich shoot for not just one end all retirement but multiple mini retirements.  The importance of keeping things fresh.  He states in his book, “The opposite of love is indifference, the opposite of happiness is- here’s the clincher boredom.” 

We need to look at how to keep our lives fun and free from boredom.  Traveling is an easy escape, but there are multiple ways to do this, many include not even leaving your own hometown.  We need to incorporate newness into our life…learning new languages, workout routines, recipes, philosophies, or maybe even taking a new route in our walks or drives to work.  Our bodies and minds need to be challenged to grow.    

I realized on this journey I have this craving for freshness in how I live my life, this sense of adventure.  But to be on the go growing all the time can be exhausting.  We need to balance this with rest, and the real world.  I know for myself I am still trying to find that right balance in my life, and it’s okay I have not gotten there yet. 

It’s  a journey in and of itself. 

And taking this tourist mentality of applying principles of vacation mode to everyday life has been helpful.  Being a tourist to your own self, to your reality.  Bringing newness, curiosity, and wonder to this moment.  It’s been a challenge, but definitely has brought gratitude into my life.  A wake up call that my time in Hawaii and on this earth is limited.  I can find a lesson in everyday if I truly searched for it.

Life can be a vacation.  We may just need the eyes of a tourist to see it.