One of the major reasons we decided to change our lifestyle and live fulltime in our RV was the feeling that life didn't have much of a purpose anymore. We worked 40 - 50 hours a week, with a 45 minute commute each way to make enough money to pay the bills. The daily routine was becoming... routine, boring. But it started to sink into our thick skulls that we were working mainly to pay monthly bills. If we reduced the monthly bills, we could enjoy life more. Why not travel and see America. We could break up the daily routine and make each day a new adventure. To supplement the mild retirement income we got from the government, we would still have to work some, but without the extreme stress. We decided we would rather host at a campground for a few months, or work at an amusement park for the season, or run our own business while traveling.
Basically, we would slow down. We plan to stay in one location long enough to enjoy the area and meet the requirements for the short-term work position. But not stay long enough to feel trapped, bored, or routine again. If the grass needs to be mowed, we'll move again, starting a new adventure.
While at an Escapee Rally (an Escapade), we saw a toy turtle that moved and sang. We bought one for Connie's parents, but felt "attached" to the words in the song, so we kept it. While still stuck in the "bricks and sticks" house, we periodically play it to motivate and relax us. It became our theme song. Once we're in our "house on wheels", the parents will get the turtle. Imagine a cute turtle, slowly walking and singing these words in a deep voice:
"You gotta slooow down,
you're movin' too fast
You gotta slooow down
and let the moment pass!
You're working too hard,
You know that it's true,
You gotta slooow down
and take some time for you!
You gotta slooow down
and smell the flowers
You gotta slooow down
and forget the hours.
Slooow down and
make some time for you
Slooow down well
you know it's true..."
Here's a video of the singing turtle.
We know we're not alone in feeling this way. I just received an Email in the form of SPAM that prompted me to write this web article. This is the first time I've enjoyed an unsolicited (SPAM) message. Maybe you've also received the following message. Many of us have the same feelings...
Author: Unknown
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." ...She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift...Thrown away... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for....
but while we are here we might as well dance!"
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