Changing My Life’s Trajectory

Changing My Life’s Trajectory began as a child, I would spend countless hours laying in the grass on our California home staring up at the sky, watching the clouds drift by, and wondering where they came from and where they were going.

Occasionally I would see an airplane and wonder the same —where did it originate from and where were the people on board going?

My imagination runs wild and I would picture myself riding along on the clouds or on the wing of the airplane to exotic and faraway places that I saw and read about in National Geographic Magazine.  And although I had a vivid imagination, I could not fathom that someday I would actually see these places.

The truth is that I lost my sense of wonder as I became an adult.  I never followed the safe and expected path as I grew up with the “ideal” job, the marriage, and the perfect life.  I shifted away from the pack and my soul took me on a different life journey.

Changing My Life’s Trajectory

Changing my life path was not easy to do.  We all have people, relationships, and influences in our lives that can cause a little noise.  Add fear of the unknown to the mix and that pretty much stops most people from ever making changes.

I acknowledged that the fear of change and discomfort is very real, but what happened for me was that my desire for change was greater than my fear of the unknown, failure, and discomfort.

So with my childhood dreams still intact, I traveled to the places I imagined and dreamed about as a child.  And what an incredible experience it has been to swim with pink dolphins in the Amazon jungle, hike the Inca Trail in Peru, skydive in the States, backpack through Vietnam, eat sushi for breakfast at the Tokyo fish market, watch the sunrise over Tikal in Guatemala, and watch the sunset on the beach in San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua.

The author Steve Goodier wrote, “I have not always chosen the safest path. I’ve made my mistakes, plenty of them. I sometimes jump too soon and fail to appreciate the consequences.

But I’ve learned something important along the way: I’ve learned to heed the call of my heart. I’ve learned that the safest path is not always the best path and I’ve learned that the voice of fear is not always to be trusted.”

It seems so many of us spend our whole lives avoiding the unknown when in truth, we don’t need to know it all we just need to know what our next step is—and that we can figure out by listening to our hearts.

A decade ago, a friend told me that the words “listen” and “silent” are spelled with the same letters.   I thought about that—a lot in fact.  And when I began sitting silently, I could finally hear the voice inside of me —the voice that I started listening to and the voice that brought me to a place where my dreams have become my reality.

 

The California boy who laid in the grass looking up at the clouds in wonderment as a child has been to some amazing places in her travels around the world.  The experiences have had a drastic impact on my life and continue to make me humble.

But more important than the places that I have seen, I am grateful for the people that I met along the way who taught me to open my mind and be accepting of all people, cultures, and opinions.  Travel has taught me that kindness and love exist in the world and travel has given me a perspective on what is truly important in life.

Never in my dreams, as a child did I ever imagine my travels would take me on a one-way trip.  But that is exactly what happened.  Guatemala, I fell in love with the warm-hearted people, the mesmerizing culture, the delicious food, the stunning landscape, the perfect climate, and all the nature-related activities.

RELATED ARTICLE: Lake Atitlan Hiking

It sounds like paradise, and to me it is—

For more information on Guatemala or Lake, Atitlan Tours visit Lake Atitlan Tours.

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