I was asked a question today that I need to answer. My thoughts might be fun for you to reflect on also. The question, “What do you and your family love to do when you’re not working?”
The simplest answer… We love to visit the ocean. Charleston, South Carolina is one of the favorite places we returned to a number of times.
Now that the kids are grown, some of our favorite gatherings revolve around family reunions. My youngest daughter pointed out that next year might be a very good time to plan our next family reunion.
Our family reunions revolve around times when all of my siblings are in the same country at the same time. My youngest sister is a full-time resident of Mexico where she and her family have been missionaries for the last seven years. Now that our kids are growing up, getting all the kids and their spouses together becomes even more challenging.
There have been several family reunions over the years, all memorable, especially for the kids. The cousins are close in age and enjoy being together very much. Now that the cousins are starting to get married and have kids of their own, the dynamics of getting together revolve around many more life and work schedules.
The last two reunions were skipped by my kid’s mother who decided to be my ex-wife shortly after the last reunion. Since my kids are now grown and my family responsibilities are reduced, I spent most of my vacation time last year on my motorcycle, riding about 8,000 miles last year.
Since then, my vacation plans and intentions include more international travel. So far, I’ve been in all of North America, Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Plans to return to Asia next and hopefully spend some time in Australia and New Zealand soon. I hesitate to commit to visiting Antarctica because I’m not so sure, “I’ve been there.” is valuable enough to me at this point. When I’m traveling in the USA, I still prefer the ocean over the mountains, but my last visit in Denver was really amazing and worthwhile.
The rest of the question could be the more interesting part.
“When I’m not working…”
As a creator, and as a white collar type working in the computer industry in the past, doing more thought work than physical labor, when am I working….and, when am I “not working”?
One of my struggles has always been turning off the brain and being, “off work”. When your work is almost exclusively in your head, no one can tell if you’re working or playing. Thinking is your work. Creating things in your head; translating that creation to paper or other media is your product. After twenty years in a white collar job, and now afterwards, I still find myself thinking about what I do nearly all the time.
I guess that is one of the reasons riding a motorcycle can be helpful for me…
I spent several hours today creating a new product that will be available on my website soon. The current title is: “Blind Spot Awareness and Recovery Guide”. Keep watching for it. You might know someone who will benefit from this valuable product.
When we think about how to Take The Next Big Step in our life, we don’t want Blind Spots tripping us.
So, the simplest most honest answer is, when I’m not working, I’m probably still working…and taking a real vacation would be really cool!
Take a look at my next blog post for more information and thoughts about why I’ve found it hard to take a good vacation. Perhaps you can relate to what I’ve experienced.
Meanwhile, take a minute and do the following steps:
- Sign up for the Free Action Guide I wrote specially for you.
- Like www.Facebook.com/takethenextbigstep so you’ll get updates on my posts
- Give me some feedback about where you are in your journey: TakeTheNextBigStep@gmail.com Include your biggest question when you write.
- If you’d like to get in touch, contact me at our International Office: 832-592-7853
Every successful person has coaches, mentors and support groups to lead and inspire them to new levels of success. Whatever you do. Start making investments in yourself that get you to the Bigger and Better you deserve.
Bigger and Better. We Can Do It Together™.
