I strongly maintain that there is a vast difference between "vacation" and "travel." In my mind a vacation is a break, a pause in the insanity of life for you to be still and rest, the less you do the better you are. Travel, however, is the complete opposite. Travel entails opening yourself up to that vast mystery that is this magnificent world. There is a strong emphasis on the "opening yourself up" part, many people travel all over the world but they do not expand, instead they stay within the bubble of their own world, own minds. They see much and learn nothing. 

Travel requires you to put aside all our preconceptions of what you believe life to be and simply live it. Whether it's being in an exotic place, or the journey that it takes to get there, travel forces you to let go and submit to the natural rhythm of the world around. You are often quite used to being in control of your day to day life, what you eat, where you sleep, who you are with, what you do, etc. When you travel you lose that control and have the opportunity to either grow or break from the pulsing of life and chaos around you. 

I thrive on travel. I am very orderly and on top of my life, I like things to be done when I believe them to be done and I typically work very hard to get my way. But when I am on the road it feels like all the burdens of the world are lifted from my shoulders and there is absolutely nothing to do but move and shake with the rhythm of the world around me. As a matter of fact, the last two trips I have taken have been seriously derailed by some very random "acts of God," and instead of giving up, turning around, or losing my cool I took the opportunity to submit, say a prayer and allow everything to just happen. Amazingly enough, everything worked out perfectly, or dare I say, everything worked out just as it should. I'm sure I could have experienced the same situations and had a very different outcome, had I had a differently mentality; but instead everything was beyond amazing, it was life-changing. 

You can go away and enjoy the world, come back with pretty pictures and pretty objects to remind you of the place. Or you can go away and experience the world, coming back with a whole new attitude and outlook on life. I choose the latter. I trade the less-than-five-star accommodations  for the moments that transform me from the person I once was into the person I will someday become. I don't travel to have a king sized bed and air conditioning, I travel to feel the energy of the world and everyone in it. 

There is a time and a place for everything, sometimes you need a resort to unwind and check out, and sometimes you need a cabin to unwind and check in. One might be easier, but the other rewards you with more than unlimited food and beverages. The other opens you up and strips you down to nothing, forcing you to assess who you are, what counts, what doesn't, and without all the paint and glam you can see what makes you so amazing and special.

How many things have not been accomplished because we talked ourselves out of it. How often do we make plans for change then subversively sabotage every step of the way? The worst part is, most of the time we are completely aware that we are doing it! When failure happens because the universe didn't quite line up the way we needed it to in order for us to accomplish our goals it's called fate. When failure happens because we didn't align ourselves to get it done that is self sabotage. There is a big difference between the two that can often be hard to decipher. Why is it hard to decipher? Because we often don't like to admit that we are blocking our success, because that would mean that we are not actually the victim. Also, all of those self sabotaging thoughts and beliefs are so subtle that often we have absolutely no idea that they are actually harmful! That's where I come in. When you come to me with a problem, I work with you to solve it. How? I don't sit you down and tell you how the universe is conspiring against you. I work with you to understand all of the actions and thoughts that you engage with that are completely derailing you from that wonderful plan towards success. 

You see, there is a reason why it is important to dream big. These dreams clue us in to our desires, and desires clue us in to what is good for the Soul. Your Soul isn't here to trudge from one job to the next, it's here to experience and enjoy! It is for this reason that most awesomely-successful people are doing what they love. Life is a lot easier when you are doing what you want to be doing. So go ahead and dream big my friends, it will take you far!

The next major step is the mindful piece, now that you've created these big dreams you can't just send them into the universe with lots of prayers and wishes, you have to back them up with intention and action. If, as I tend to believe, the universe is conspiring in your favor then everything that you desire and dream of that aligns to your greatest intentions should come true. The reason why I say "should" is because as we are all aware, if often doesn't come true. Why? Because if you decide that you want to create a thriving, successful business doing exactly what you love to do, but every action is thinly laced with doubt and with every setback thoughts of fear and failure run through your head then it's going to be a very slow process. This is because we are not fully aligning ourselves to our intentions. When we make intentions every single thought and action should align to that intention, if it doesn't align then it is going against it, creating mini roadblocks. Setbacks happen, this is life, but if you look at every setback as the opportunity to slow down, reassess, adjust and improve then you will quickly be up and running. Think of all of the amazing success stories that make it to the media, they aren't about dreams that were handed to someone hand-wrapped in gold, they are about dreams that were pursued through countless setbacks and failures. 

When you build your dream, paint it up pretty. Know exactly what you want, but be open to how you get there. Often we sabotage ourselves because we are not living up to our own standards of when and how we get to our dream, or we lose site of the dream all together. Hold that dream and nurture it, have a plan but be prepared to change it. If every day you focus on that dream, and every day you set the intention of "I am going to do something today to help me get to where I want to be," then eventually you will be there. 

Don't let your mind control the details of your dream, your mind has no business going anywhere near your dream; dreams are in the Soul's territory. Use your mind to keep your thoughts and actions in alignment, that is to say, keep them always moving forward. 

So dear friends, Keep your dreams big, your actions productive and your thoughts positive.