Reap What You Sow
Celebrating New Year’s was especially rewarding this year. My family and I created a lasting memory by ringing in the New Year in the Dominican Republic. After an exceptional dinner including grilled lobster, we attended an outdoor concert and screamed with hundreds of others as the countdown to midnight transpired. At the strike of twelve we watched bright, colourful fireworks explode in the star filled sky up and down the beach from the different resorts. The celebrating continued on for hours with music, laughter and lots of pictures. As great as this seems, it was what we expected.
Let me explain.
My wife has always wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve down south on a warm beach. She has talked about it for years. Talk is cheap. We can talk all we want but it is action that will bring that dream to a reality. Last January we set out to achieve our dream of enjoying the New Year on the island. We researched resorts, looked at the pictures often and talked about what it was going to be like. We kept the dream alive all year. We gave our kids a choice as well. We asked them if they would prefer gifts under the tree for Christmas or a vacation on a warm beach for the holidays. It was an easy decision for them as well and now they were caught up in the excitement. We budgeted throughout the year to make our dream a reality. This is why the vacation created such a lasting memory and it turned out as expected. You’ve heard the saying you reap what you sow, well that’s what happened. We identified what we wanted, built excitement and desire by talking about it often and researching it and of course acted on our desire by putting away money throughout the year to pay for it. We made it happen!
Now there were many comments from people we know saying things like ‘it must be nice’ or ‘business must have been good this year’. They just assume we booked the vacation on a whim. What they didn’t see was the plan and effort throughout the year. Life long memories, rewarding experiences, new adventures don’t happen by chance, they happen by choice!
It is so easy to compromise on your dreams. Excuses of ‘I’m too busy’ or ‘I can’t afford it’ are all too common. Make life your playground. Decide what you want and work towards making it happen. Just because you desire something doesn’t mean it will just appear, you must choose to make it happen. Break routine. Make a plan. Act on your plan so you can create those lasting memories to enjoy for years to come.
"Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny".
