Would Just One 'Great Escape' Be Enough For You?

A conversation with an occasional reader the other day, put me in my place. "What you write is all very good," he said. (Oh shucks, thanks...).

"But when are you actually going to do something about it?"

Oh. Ummm...  Is it enough to say that I'm trying?  'Very trying' would be the droll response to that one. How about: Learning? Laying the foundations? Taking the first steps?  Building capacity? (Ha! I like that one, appropriate a bit of that corporate-speak that says nothing, always a good tactic).  He has a good point. But I'll counter with a better one:

Nothing sustainable happens overnight.

I could've walked out on my job any day I chose, and still can. I've got an emergency fund in the bank, and could bugger off to New Zealand or Hawaii or Outer-bloody-Mongolia any time I like. Still might. I've got a pair of running trainers by the door, and could start jogging and keep going, right this minute.  I could, and I might, and when I do, just you watch me.

I currently have the choice to take any of those steps, and I have taken all of those steps in the past. I 've learned, through direct experience, that they're not all that drastic. I can do them, you can do them. But I've also learned that done like that, they're not necessarily sustainable.

Ditching work and going travelling is an easy thing to do.

Really it is.  But at some point, the money usually runs out. And then comes the point of coming back, cap in hand, grovelling for a job, any job, because the basic needs have to be met. That's not easy. That's rotten. What I'm aiming for isn't a one-off splurge.  I've already done that and loved it. What I'm trying to do now is create a life where the things I discovered on that splurge can be steady day-by-day realities.

There's also the fact that I don't just want to indulge myself. It's a whole lot easier to swan off to somewhere sunny and lounge on a beach (for a short while at least), than to make a difference. I've done both, and I would like to keep doing both.  But one crucial factor is:

Making a difference takes more effort.

Making a difference takes more small daily steps, and more commitment. Which is tricky to do, if you're ducking off on great-escapes and then reduced to taking any old job you can get.

I've lived the dream. Now I'm finding the way to make it sustainable for life.

What about you?  Have you already done something about your dreams?  And would just one 'great escape' be enough? 

Image by Sainaalphotography