A Late Resolution

I can’t quite put a finger on it – despite the fact that I have 10 at my disposal. Perhaps there’s a separate reason for each digit, but in the end it doesn’t really matter because I’ve already made up my mind. New Year’s 2011 was 37 days ago but like they say, “better late than never right?”

This year, I will travel – at least 1 different state or country per month.








The obvious question is “why?” – but instead of answering in a rhetorical “why not?” I’ll attempt to answer that inquiry with every excuse that people (including myself) use to justify not seeing more of the world that we live in.

• No time – career
• No time – family
• No time – relationship
• No money
• No destination
• Not healthy enough
• No interest
• No companion
• No logistics

After the first few, it was actually a bit hard coming up the list but I think I’ve hit most of them. Pausing to re-read the list, I’m able to confirm that there is no reason whatsoever that I shouldn’t be successfully carrying out my resolution. There is no way I could honestly use any of the above to justify as an excuse. I need to stop living in my head… I need to expand my boundaries (literally).

Life is a ritual: a routine. These regular, habitual, procedures of activities that are our day-to-day lives may seem like a wonderful and stable system to live in – but it is limited. Many people have made life decisions (sometimes forced) that shut the door on possibilities. I’m fortunate enough to still be allowed to have that choice and freedom. What then is freedom if not used?

[from my college philosophy minor notes]

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he has lost no time.” – Francis Bacon

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.” – Jean-Paul Sarte

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

Reflecting back on the things that I’ve experienced in life – I’ve come to the conclusion that the most rewarding and character-developing events were always the ones that I experienced for the first time. There is not (much) joy in doing something for the hundredth time when compared to the excitement and anticipation of attaining a new experience. A new memory. A new chapter to add to your book of life.

Let me ask you: are you using any of those excuses above?