Embracing Change

And just like that the first step is taken....   

A small step yes... but one I have a really good feeling about.

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.”  
A. Robbins

Thinking about today and my epiphany .... reflecting on the blog I had written, I have taken some decisive action.  If my family is reading along.... do not panic! I am not packing up and taking off with my kids.  Even though this is something I intend to do on my own, when the boys are older, so for now I thought I had better play it safe.  

Tonight is the first little step, in rising up against all the things that I see restricting me in having an exciting, fruitful life experience with my kids.  So using my older son as a sounding board for my idea... I took a breath and blurted it out.

"I have decided that this year we are going to do things a little differently."  Immediately , he raised his eyebrows in disgust.  But I decided to press on.

"Instead of buying Christmas presents and doing the same things we do every year.... what do you think about renting a camper van and driving up the Qld coast ?"  I waited for the fall out, thinking he would not cope with the whole idea of not getting a present. ....(hmmm...........silence....) 

"So instead of a present for you and your brother, family, friends, teachers etc etc... (which may I add can be a really expensive tradition)  I thought we would give our family a joint present, for all of us to enjoy, a holiday adventure." .... expecting an immediate negative response, I am happy to say, my son thought it was a great idea.

For the next hour, we talked and "googled" information, both quite excited about the prospect of having a holiday.  You see like most other families, busy looking after their children's needs,   we have not been on a holiday in about 6 years. Our last "family holiday" was just before the boys dad and I parted ways, for a 3 day break at the sunshine coast.  Prior to that I would say, it would have been another 6/7 years before, just after I was married.  So for our family, we do not go on holidays much.  It is something that I have always wanted to do with the boys, but we had other priorities.   This year I decided to "change" my priorities.... (see previous blog from today.)  

The preparation begins....  we have researched the information....    a camper van to hire and drive north.  First we wanted to go to Tin Can Bay and to the Dolphin feeding and research centre.  I have always wanted my youngest son to see real dolphins. I have heard of their "sixth" sense, especially with sick or disabled children.  Tin Can Bay is off the Northern Sunshine Coast. Having a camper van means we can stop in at caravan parks as we explore.  Next on to the Turtle experience at Mon Repos, Australia’s sea turtle rookery, at Mon Repos Conservation Park, near Bundaberg. Probably staying at the amazing Bargara Beach.  The boys and I have never seen turtles laying eggs on the beach in their natural environment. You also get to see the eggs hatching, followed by the amazing experience of the baby turtles heading down the beach towards the open sea.  I can't wait.

That is basically as far as we got... a small step but a step.  We are going to continue our journey throughout the year, researching and decision making as a family.  The turtle breeding season begins in November.  I am not too phased about taking the boys out of school for a week.  I thought our first adventure would need to be small...  easy...  besides it will take me the year to get it sorted.  I am so excited about this.  I will continue to blog our progress.

See what a positive change can bring.... spontaneous decisions, energy and togetherness.  I am so grateful and blessed right now.  That wasn't a challenge at all. The challenge will be actually doing it.  In our family though, once a promise is made and plans are set, I cannot go back on my word.  I don't promise my boys anything....unless I can fulfil that promise.  I'll make it happen for them.