May 8th, 2022
Here’s a story about the power of intention and how, setting long term goals can work a little magic… even when you don’t realize it.
Two of the kids were home this week, and as part of the organized purge of our household “stuff”, we all sat around the kitchen table with boxes of photos and old journals, high school school essays and kindergarten drawings from our 23 years together.
Such a bittersweet activity.
I was glad that the kids were there to relive those memories. We laughed and cried over the many journals started, the old report card comments, the stories that went along with photos from back before Dan and I even knew each other.
We managed to pare it all down to one (large) plastic bin. And I have plans to organize this bin– perhaps move the photos into albums and make files for all the scraps of writing and art. Though time, as always, is marching on and there is so much prepping yet to do….
But that’s not the story I wanted to share today. Today’s story is about setting intentions. There are many websites that talk about intention setting in a formal way. And I am all for that.
But, more simply, there is power in telling yourself where you are headed. It’s as simple as that. There is a bit of magic in clarity of purpose.
A Ten Year Plan
One of the items we came across during our night of nostalgic purging, was a seven year old page in an otherwise unused notebook. On it, I had written a bullet point list, titled “My Ten Year Plan”.
It said “In ten years we will…”
“Move onto the road: either Airstream trailer or van”
“Rent out the house”
“Dan works remotely”
“Make website/blog and learn how to make passive income”
“Walk every day”
“Figure out an extra source of income (eBay) to get out of debt”
“Hike a long trail”
What????
I had no memory of writing any of this. But there it was in black and white (well, in wispy brown pencil marks anyway). And yet seven years later, we have (nearly) done all these things. There is power in knowing what you want and moving forward with intention.
Moving Forward on the 10 Year Plan
We are about to set out on this Crazy/Brave Adventure with Dan working remotely, in our self-built van. The house is rented. I am learning the ins and outs of this website/blog. No passive income here, and I am not even thinking about that right now. Just learning and sharing.
I did, in fact, develop a “side hustle” of re-selling thrifted and tag sale items on eBay and it gave us another source of income that we did use to manage our debts. I also bought a (used) car with my “eBay money”. (I’d be happy to share more about this in a blog post if you all are interested)
And we did hike a long trail– two of them! (The East Coast Trail and the Sunshine Coast Trail) as well as a (first in a long time) 50th birthday hike in the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado.
Do I walk every day? Nope. But I do walk most days.
This story is not about anything remarkable really. Maybe it is about the power of our subconscious. I don’t know. But I do know that being clear with yourself– even in a brief, forgotten, moment, can set the wheels in motion. (Literally, in our case!)
Try it: Make yourself a Ten Year Plan, stow it away and get going.
