Elusive things and Infinity

I’m back! After several months of my brain rolling around at about 50% past capacity, turning it off for a week was a much-needed, long overdue occasion. 

While I was gone, I had the opportunity to stand on a balcony and gaze over the ever-moving, ever-changing ocean. I’ve always wanted to see a whale in the wild. Always. In my small mind, I keep thinking that one of these days I’m going to be in the right place at the right time and an enormous whale is going to pop up and show itself to me, posing while I snap postcard-quality pictures with my conveniently present camera. I’ve held onto this hope for years, and though I’ve crossed the ocean a number of times (and been near it, on it, close to it, etc.) I still haven’t been in that perfect place and time. Yet.

I’ve seen dolphins, sea turtles, flying fish, and crabs. Pelicans, cranes, and a bazillion other cool birds. I’ve seen alligators, too. But no whale.

It’s like this elusive thing that I just can’t reach.

But as I watched the water stretch out in all directions, broken by nothing but the horizon, I realized something. The ocean is freaking VAST. It’s infinite. There are places where it’s so deep it can’t even be measured. And no matter how many whales live in it, the chances of me being in the right spot to see one are slim. There is just so much space and one single whale is such a small thing comparatively. I mean, yes, I understand that there are known places to go whale-watching. But even then there’s no guarantee. It’s still about timing. And that timing isn’t just up to me.

But I know that if I keep looking, one day I’ll get to see my whale. And if I don’t, at least I’ll know I never gave up trying.

I think that’s true with a lot of our life goals. The world is vast. In many ways it’s infinite. Dreams are sometimes elusive things that feel out of reach. But we will never know how infinite we are until we unfurl our sails and make for the horizon.  

Maybe we’ll find a whale, and maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll find something else entirely. Like, I don’t know, a new continent that will be lauded as the promised land and named after us. The point is we have opportunities and choices and chances. Enough to fill an entire ocean. It’s up to us to decide if we have the courage to sail.

What is something you’ve always wanted to see/do/try? 

One Last Secret

So. Um. We’re still celebrating at our house. But it’s a different kind of celebrating than I did when all this happened. More like a holy-crap-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into? kind of celebrating. And a pack-your-entire-life-and-family-in-a-truck kind of celebrating.

Because people, the Giles family…

Is MOVING TO TEXAS!!!

That’s right, y'all.  Portland, Texas, to be specific, which is right outside Corpus Christi. Best part?

This.

We expect to be there just before Thanksgiving. Which means I will not be writing a novel this November, but I will totally be cheering on all my NaNoWriMo friends. So I’m dusting off my cowboy boots, donning my hat, and uncovering my long buried y'all drawl. Or, er, um. Okay, maybe I’m really just packing, but still. I’m SO. Excited.

Except the part where I have to leave behind people I love. That is not excitement. There will be many tears on moving day. (And hugs to all of you!)Remember how I told you all to do something big? Well. Yeah. This is kind of big, I think. Now it’s your turn, because after this, I’m going to need a long, long nap.

Now tell me. What new and exciting thing are you going to try this month? 

Fear of the Unknown

I think it’s safe to say we all have fears. Lots of them. (Not that some of us would admit to them, but they exist.) But have you ever made a major life decision based on fear? Or maybe you went with courage instead?

Seriously. Life is scary. Success is scary. Failure is scary. Commitment is scary.

Some people fear staying in one place long enough to matter, while others fear leaving that place in order to spread their wings, make more of themselves or their lives.

Playing sports, or letting our kids play them = scary. Skydiving, scuba, traveling to new countries, learning to drive, riding on a motorcycle, skiing, anything you’ve never done before. Starting a new project, changing careers, anything that signals the beginning of a new phase of life can be REALLY FREAKING SCARY.

Because once we do those things, there will be some kind of result. Good or bad. And sometimes, when we do something big, the results can be ridiculously terrifying.

But if we don’t take those chances, do those things, how boring would our lives be? And more importantly, how would we ever discover the most amazing parts of life?

Sometimes we all have to take the scary road.

Submit that novel. Query that agent. Apply for that job. Move to a new city. Ask out that guy/girl you like. Plan that party. Go somewhere foreign.

DO SOMETHING BIG.

This weekend, I challenge you go do something you’ve been putting off because of fear. And when you do, I want to hear about it.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Go! Go now!

Good luck.