I’ve been pretty “nomadic” when it comes to my life experiences, but I haven’t been as truthful to myself or to those around me regarding how much I enjoy being a “life nomad”. Different experiences, people, places and things energize me! Although some have criticized the pace and frequency of my life choices (career, family management, healthy life styles, unhealthy life styles...), I have been pretty comfortable with my changes and I do realize that I bounce from idea to idea and new plan to new plan more frequently than some people change clothes, so whether I was going to become a runner, an adventure racer, a Deacon, a writer, an executive or a stay at home Dad (you get the drift)...I have always felt innately comfortable with where I was going, what I was going to do and who I was going to do it for. Now, I’d be a bold faced liar if I didn’t tell you that there have been “voices” along the way. These voices reside comfortably in my head (yes...I’m openly admitting that I hear little voices- not in the “see a doctor” sort of way), but in the traditional form...doubt, fear, insecurity, confidence, comfort, etc. You know the various self discussions one might have with themselves, “Hey- what are you thinking by moving jobs” or... “Do you really think you are cut out to handle life on the road again”...or my favorite, “do you really want to be a healthy guy or are you just made to eat cheese sticks and drink beer”. These voices can be powerfully derailing or powerfully motivating (depending on which set of voices you listen to). The more comfortable I’ve become with sharing stories of my life through this blog, the writing has enabled me to continue to learn and grow as a person and my opinions have generated some deep and philosophical discussions with some of the most random people who read these articles (which I love). The irony about writing about such personal topics and being a life nomad is the realization that so many have similar experiences, concerns, challenges, and fears or have achieved positive growth, empowerment and peace on their journeys, so as I meet and talk to those who have lived through journeys of their own, they keep affirming that powerful truth... I’m not alone in my thinking and I’m not the only person who has battled those fearful tones or internal voices that can derail us from time to time.
A good friend of mine, who also acts as one of my mentors, recently packed up her life and moved across the country to pursue something she had always thought about, but never really acted on because of these “voices”. Her voices were rooted in a different place than mine, but nonetheless, they helped her foster a belief that being employed by someone else would give her the professional life she was intended to live. Ironically, after a bit of a career shake up in 2010, she was able to disengage from the world for a period of time, focus on her, tune out the “negative and fear based” voices and she began to act, sound and “be” different. This is the point in time where our friendship matured from a comfortable acquaintance to coach/coachee, because I could tell she authentically believed in herself and those behaviors started to quell the negativity she had listened to for years. I could tell that a more clear and positive set of voices told her she could build a business if she wanted to, she could see new parts of the country if that was her interest, she could be her own leader and boss if that fancied her and fortunately...she has listened to those feelings and is in the process of building a new business, in a new area of the world and she appears to be content, which I love to see.
As my friend accomplished her goals, I’m still on that journey and as part of that journey I made a commitment to myself that I would continue working on my mental, physical and spiritual awareness (and that I would not stop being nomadic), so I could be prepared and stay balanced with regard to some of the challenges faced by a person who is as nomadic as I am. Now, we all know that we can’t control others’ behavior, even though so many of us try to, so I am working to focus on learning from these people’s behaviors (not controlling them) and I am also focused on NOT enabling other people’s opinions to be a focal point of my decision making, but instead, using these opinions to help me shape my decision making...who am I kidding though, I still let other’s opinions play too heavy a role in the decisions I make, but we are working on it, right? Finally, I sure as hell don’t want to be pulled into a trap, whereby, my natural inquisitive nature, my love for nomadic life experiences and my passion for connecting with people from all walks of life is squashed based around some hint of fear or insecurity.
As you’ll notice...when you read my thoughts and opinions, you might feel the same way about your life or, if you don’t, I’ll be happy to have you hitch your wagon to me and you can watch as I work through this, because we can all agree that I still have a long road ahead as it relates to the acquisition of “peace and serenity”- haha. My experiences have shown me that the peace and contentment or the powerful aspirations one has for their life, their family, their career, their health, or their peace of mind...won’t be attained without significant effort, because attaining these goals comes from living the experiences life’s journey affords us. So, as the New Year unfolds...I’m going to continue to be nomadic with my experiences, I’m not going to live with the “routine” and I’m going to be active, introspective and will work to choose those things that will give me the life experiences that most of us seek. In short, I hope you’ll do the same.
A belated Happy New Year to all of my readers and I’ll look forward to sharing 2013’s stories and experiences in the weeks and months that follow...