Have you ever been to.......Nashville TN, Memphis TN, South Haven MS, Milwaukee WI, Dallas TX, Orlando FL, Columbus OH, 3 cities in IN, Atlanta GA, 10 different cities in Illinois? What about Portland OR, Troutdale OR, Chaska MN, Chambursburg PA, Harrisburg PA, Pittsburgh PA, Philadelphia PA, Bedford PA, Phoenix/Tuscan AZ, at least 7 different Cities in CA like San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach , La Mirada, Anaheim and Riverside?..... Those are a few places I have traveled to this past year.
I have been working with a new company shortly over a year now. My line of work allows me to travel all over the country. Granted all of the trips have been work related, I sometimes will have the opportunity to play a little bit on the road. I started this post last summer and was originally intended to be an update of my then current events. The next paragraph is a brief story of my first trip.
It was the middle of May 2013. I was flying into Dallas Texas, but had to switch planes in Denver. I had a hour and a half layover so I decided to grab some dinner. As I sat down by the terminal to eat, I looked up at one of the televisions that had been displaying a weather report. It caught my attention when they mentioned tornado warnings in Oklahoma City. I looked at my itinerary and noticed my flight had a stop in Oklahoma City before arriving in Dallas. Once the plane had departed Denver and we were in mid flight, I couldn't stop thinking about the tornado warnings. When time for landing had approached I started to wonder if others where thinking the same thing I was. As the plane came in for landing it started to sway back and forth. To this day that has been the most terrifying flight I have ever been on! After landing, everyone on plane had shouted and applaud, cheering with joy as if their favorite sports team had just won the championship game. That was quite the experience as it was my first time flying in over 5 years! Not to mention my luggage was left in Denver.
I have many great stories written in my journal about my experiences going from state to state. It has been an amazing Journey so far. I have learned so much about myself, met so many amazing individuals and seen so many places that I might have never had that opportunity to see.
After the first month of working for this company and knowing all the traveling that would be taking place. I wanted a change with my living situation. It didn't really make sense for me to have my own place. So given the circumstances (and sucking up my pride) I moved into my patents basement last June. Being a 30 year old man it was one tough decision to make. Lets be honest. Even with the circumstances, who would want to date a man in his 30's that lives in his parents basement? Am I right ladies? It was hard enough to move away from all the close friendships I built In Utah County (though it was only a 20 minute drive to visit them). Speaking of dating, as I was putting all my focus into building a career I saw my dating and social life diminish. I can understand how hard it would be to date someone that travels 4 days out of the week, for 3 weeks of the month. I came to realize that it will take someone who is very independent, patient, understanding and very trust worthy to date someone of my status.
Moving forward.
I have grown so much as a man this past year and have made sacrifices financially, socially, and many pertaining to my active lifestyle. Challenging as it has been to make these sacrifices and changes, I have allowed myself to reach and obtain the goals that I made while switching career paths. Next Friday (June 20th) will be the year mark I moved back home with my parents. As I ponder were I was this time last year, It's amazing to see the results of all the sacrifices I have made in just a years time. I have lost many friendships and relationships along the way that I thought would last a lifetime and beyond, because of my current lifestyle. I understand that this is a natural form in life and I would be a hypocrite if said I haven't left people behind. When making lifestyle changes, that doesn't mean it makes us a bad person. We are still that fun, loving and carrying individual we always have been. It's heartbreaking when these things happen, but that's part of the journey life presents. We all have to walk are own path.
As I child I remember listening to my fathers vinyl records. Their are a few records that I loved to listen to over and over. One in particular is by the musician Ricky Nelson. In his song titled "Garden Party" their is a lyric that has played over and over in my head since I was a young boy. I think I'm finally starting to understands it's meaning.
"But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well. You see, you can’t please everyone so you gotta please yourself".
It was the middle of May 2013. I was flying into Dallas Texas, but had to switch planes in Denver. I had a hour and a half layover so I decided to grab some dinner. As I sat down by the terminal to eat, I looked up at one of the televisions that had been displaying a weather report. It caught my attention when they mentioned tornado warnings in Oklahoma City. I looked at my itinerary and noticed my flight had a stop in Oklahoma City before arriving in Dallas. Once the plane had departed Denver and we were in mid flight, I couldn't stop thinking about the tornado warnings. When time for landing had approached I started to wonder if others where thinking the same thing I was. As the plane came in for landing it started to sway back and forth. To this day that has been the most terrifying flight I have ever been on! After landing, everyone on plane had shouted and applaud, cheering with joy as if their favorite sports team had just won the championship game. That was quite the experience as it was my first time flying in over 5 years! Not to mention my luggage was left in Denver.
I have many great stories written in my journal about my experiences going from state to state. It has been an amazing Journey so far. I have learned so much about myself, met so many amazing individuals and seen so many places that I might have never had that opportunity to see.
After the first month of working for this company and knowing all the traveling that would be taking place. I wanted a change with my living situation. It didn't really make sense for me to have my own place. So given the circumstances (and sucking up my pride) I moved into my patents basement last June. Being a 30 year old man it was one tough decision to make. Lets be honest. Even with the circumstances, who would want to date a man in his 30's that lives in his parents basement? Am I right ladies? It was hard enough to move away from all the close friendships I built In Utah County (though it was only a 20 minute drive to visit them). Speaking of dating, as I was putting all my focus into building a career I saw my dating and social life diminish. I can understand how hard it would be to date someone that travels 4 days out of the week, for 3 weeks of the month. I came to realize that it will take someone who is very independent, patient, understanding and very trust worthy to date someone of my status.
Moving forward.
I have grown so much as a man this past year and have made sacrifices financially, socially, and many pertaining to my active lifestyle. Challenging as it has been to make these sacrifices and changes, I have allowed myself to reach and obtain the goals that I made while switching career paths. Next Friday (June 20th) will be the year mark I moved back home with my parents. As I ponder were I was this time last year, It's amazing to see the results of all the sacrifices I have made in just a years time. I have lost many friendships and relationships along the way that I thought would last a lifetime and beyond, because of my current lifestyle. I understand that this is a natural form in life and I would be a hypocrite if said I haven't left people behind. When making lifestyle changes, that doesn't mean it makes us a bad person. We are still that fun, loving and carrying individual we always have been. It's heartbreaking when these things happen, but that's part of the journey life presents. We all have to walk are own path.
As I child I remember listening to my fathers vinyl records. Their are a few records that I loved to listen to over and over. One in particular is by the musician Ricky Nelson. In his song titled "Garden Party" their is a lyric that has played over and over in my head since I was a young boy. I think I'm finally starting to understands it's meaning.
"But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well. You see, you can’t please everyone so you gotta please yourself".
Those of you who personally know me will understand this. I spend so much of my time pleasing others, that I end up losing focus on myself. This can evolve into a big problem for anyone. It's important and healthy to maintain a work/life balance, it keeps you grounded and stable. If you're not careful, you can lose focus and control of that balance. The accomplishments that I have made by doing my best to maintain a healthy work/life balance allowed me to complete goals I set this past year. One of my major accomplishments was bringing down my accumulative debt by 70%. This has allowed me to set additional goals for the next year.
Speaking from experience, If you know what you want and you put your all into what you are given. You can accomplish anything you desire. It just takes time and patience.
Big things to come next year, big things!
Summer 2015!
-Stay tuned!
-Stay tuned!
Good for you! I am proud of you. Just keep on keepin' on!! :) You being happy is what is most important.
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