Lightening Online

Image via WikipediaWhat was it I was saying the other day about “never being too old?”

Nana Terri has just proven that through her time in the Big Brother house.

Despite saying that she wouldn’t recommend it to any other 52 year olds, Terri has gone ahead and won the $250,000 prize AND the title of winner of Big Brother 2008.

In her final interview, Terri admitted that “the first 2 weeks were hard….”

Given she was the first housemate to be evicted, Terri has been the epitomy of “I get knocked down but I get up again”.

I’m not usually a big fan of Big Brother but for some reason this season, I’ve been compelled to watch more than usual.

Terri seemed to struggle to fit in for some time and copped abuse on many sides and yet as time went on the housemates seemed to warm to her more and more.

Obviously Australia saw something in her too that they ultimately voted her the winner.

Now Big Brother has closed it’s camera’s for what might be the final time. I’m not sure how much Australia will really mourn it’s passing.

But I’m really glad that it’s legacy will include a 52 year old woman as one of it’s winners.

What do you think? Is it time for Big Brother to end it’s run? Are you glad to see an older housemate be voted winner of Big Brother 2008?

A little while ago I read a post written on Meanderings which was a description of what she wanted her life to look like in 5 years time. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided I’d like to write one of these for myself.

Well, almost a month has past and I haven’t done it. Wanna know why? Cos I. Don’t. Know. I have no idea what I would like my life to look like in 5 years time.

As a child I had 1 goal in life. Actually, you could probably say I had 2 goals but they’re very closely related.

1. Get married

2. Have kids

I did sort of think I’d like to be a teacher. That never happened and while I *could* make it happen now, I just don’t have the inclination to.

So to consider what’s next is kind of a foreign concept to me and I’m struggling to come up with any kind of goals as such.

Let’s start with what our family life might look like. I’ll be fast approaching 40 (but with a couple of years still up my sleeve). Leighton will be 15 (EEEEK!!!), Singstar Princess will be 12 and The Bomb (must think up another name for him I think) will be 9.

By then I guess our “big trip” will be not much more than a distant memory but will HOPEFULLY at least be paid for.    The trip has been a large part of our focus for a few years now.

We are keeping an open mind about private schooling for our Leighton (and the others but he comes first). The very thought makes my heart ache but IF it’s something he wants and IF we feel it would benefit him and IF we can afford it, we will consider it as an option (it would mean him living away from home - assuming we’re still farming).

I would like to contribute in some way to our family finances. I’m not sure how exactly. I’ve always thought I’d be a stay at home, non income earning, mother for the duration of my kids youth. Now I’m not really sure what I want.

This morning I came across an interesting you tube clip on My Little Drummer Boys that made me think (and made me tear up a bit).

I’ve tried to embed the you tube video here for you but it’s messing up my site so either visit My Little Drummer Boys to view it or you can find it on you tube here. There are also some other clips by the same guy listed on that you tube page.

It’s certainly given me food for thought. I remember at the lowest point of my nervous breakdown I actually thought I was going insane and would end up in an institution for the rest of my life. The grief of feeling that your life is coming to an end is quite intense.

In some ways this has given me what feels like a second chance in life but I’m still not sure what I want to BE or DO.

I know I like helping people. I know I like making people smile. Beyond that…. I’m really not sure.

How about you? Do you feel your dreams and goals for the future are clear in your mind? Are you a planner? Or are you like me and feel like you’re kind of drifting in the wind, uncertain as to which direction you’d like to go next?

I’ve been thinking about the difference between a dream and a goal. In my mind a dream is something that doesn’t have to be achievable or have a timeline. Whereas a goal is measurable, realistic, has a timeline and steps to be taken in order to reach that goal. Perhaps that’s why I like dreams better!

BUT, goals are the steps that take us toward our dreams.

One of the dreams I mentioned yesterday was the desire to take our children on a 3 month caravanning tour around Queensland and New South Wales. Like most dreams, the only way this dream can become a reality is if I start to set myself goals that move us toward that dream.

A number of years ago we came across a wonderful couple that had done exactly that. Taken the kids out of school for a term and travelled. They gave us some advice which changed our dream from a “pipe dream” (one we weren’t sure we’d ever actually realise) to more of a goal. They suggested that we make up our minds that we’re going to do it and not let anything stand in our way.

There is something that is quite invincible about a human mind once it is made up. I only have to watch my children on a daily basis to be reminded of that fact. LOL. You sure have to be one tough cookie to raise children.

I’m so thankful to these friends. Up until that point I’m not sure DH was convinced that we would ever do our dream trip. He liked the idea of the trip, he just wasn’t sure he could turn the idea into a reality. After that conversation with our friends, we decided that we were going to make it a reality. Even if it took doing it in our camper trailer on a shoestring budget - we were going to MAKE it happen.

That reminds me of a conversation I heard DH having with a teenage lad that was boarding with us when our first child was very young. He was doing the agriculture course that is offered during year 11 and 12 at our local school. This young lad was interested in becoming a farmer (although he had been raised in the city) but he also wanted to be a millionaire. DH was basically telling him that if he wanted something badly enough - he could achieve it. BUT that he may have to choose which he wanted MORE - to be a farmer OR be a millionaire. While there are plenty of farmers whose net worth is higher than a million dollars, they tend to be those who have gotten into farming with some kind of help. The reality of farming is that it’s getting virtually impossible to start with nothing and build yourself a successful farming enterprise.

I think that this is a motto that DH and I have tended to live by. We can have ANYTHING if we really want it badly enough. But we can’t have EVERYTHING. There’s a big difference between those 2 words. Very few people build themselves an empire without a LOT of time and effort invested in that empire. It may come down to a choice of what you want MORE - more money OR more time.

Anyway, back to our dream trip.

Step 1 - have the dream
Step 2 - decide we ARE going to chase that dream
Step 3 - work out what steps are necessary in order to see the dream become a reality
Step 4 - take those steps, one at a time
Step 5 - see the dream become a reality

Well, some dreams are easier than others to work out what steps need to be taken in order to see them come to reality. Some dreams are out of our control to an extent (like my wanting to have grandchildren for instance - although there are probably plenty of children out there who would love an “adopted” grandmother). But they work for THIS dream.

So, what are our steps in order to see our dream of travelling with our children become a reality?

There are a number of things that need to happen:

1. Decide on a timeline. We wanted all our children to be old enough to remember the trip (school age) but go before our eldest reached the final year of primary school. So we’ve decided on Term 3 of 2009 (which I might add seemed quite a long way off when we first decided on that date but is approaching rapidly).

2. Purchase a caravan. Fortunately with already owning a camper trailer, this step isn’t a necessity in order to see our dream come true. But it would make life on the road a LOT easier than having to set up and pack up the camper trailer each time we move locations.

Of course, there are smaller stages within this step as well. We need to consider whether we’ll buy new vs second hand and what size, style, make, model etc etc etc. We’ve managed to narrow things down to around 2-3 options so far. We will buy second hand if the right opportunity comes along but are prepared to purchase new as second hand in what we want are very hard to come by and caravans seem to hold their value well. We also need to work out finance before we can buy. Our preferred timeline for ordering our caravan is early next year so that we have time to do a smaller trip with it before the big trip.

3. Save up finance for the trip. We’ve started this process and 2008 that will be our main financial focus (saving for the trip).

4. Work out how we’re going to manage the farm while we’re away. If DH had a *real* job (lol - I often tease him that he needs to get a real job) then we’d use his long-service leave. Since he doesn’t, we need to work out exactly how this is going to work. DH has a few ideas and hasn’t settled on a specific one yet.

5. Work out the kids schooling. Our preference is to work *with* their current teachers if possible but we will pull them out of the school if that is our only option. We haven’t discussed this with the school yet as our senior staff seem to change frequently and there isn’t much point in going through it with one, only to have to go through it again. I expect that we’ll do that this time next year. We are travelling with another family who have children of similar ages.

Of course, then there is all the fun stuff like working out what we want to take with us (and what will fit in the caravan), where we want to go (some of which we plan to decide as we go).

Ooh, I’m getting all excited just talking about it!

So there you have it. From a dream to goal setting to seeing the dream come true. Hopefully you’ll all still be around to watch our dream become a reality!

The topic of chasing our dreams seems to be one that touches us all. Somewhere deep inside all of us are those yearnings and longings that we’re almost afraid to voice for fear that someone might think we’re slightly crazy. Or perhaps it’s the belief that our dreams really won’t come true (especially if we voice them) that holds up back.

I want to challenge you today to “dare to dream”. Think about what your dreams are. Write them down on a piece of paper. Better still, pop them in the comments section here. There is nothing like reading about other people’s dreams to stimulate the imagination and get us all enthused about our own dreams.

Even just the process of daring to dream and the fun of following those dreams can be extremely fulfilling and fun. Some dreams don’t get fulfilled and yet there is a certain fulfillment that comes simply from having those dreams and perhaps making a step or two toward them.

I remember years ago I was running some training sessions and part of one of those sessions was on the topic of dreams. One of the ladies went away from that session with a dream to set up a coffee shop/ youth drop in type centre inside an aeroplane. The amount of fun she had chasing up an aeroplane and sharing her progress with us all (and the fun we had being a part of watching her dream unfold) was phenomenol. She actually got as far as sourcing a plane that could be used. There came a point where she did decide to let go of her dream BUT she (and the rest of the group) learnt an important lesson from that time. Her dream progressed so much further than any of us would have believed. It was a great experience and one I’m grateful to have been a part of.

So, I want to hear your dreams. What are the things in your heart of hearts you’d like to happen in your lifetime?

Here are a few of mine:

* build a house on this farm

* both DH and I to work part-time together (once our children are a little older) so we both have lots of time for other things

* take our children on a 3-month caravanning trip around Queensland and NSW

* get as close to self sufficiency as possible

* work in an orphanage (and maybe even one day adopt some orphans)

* work at a camp-site (I just love the atmosphere of camps)

* have grandchildren (lol - that one is a little outside my realms of control though)

So there you have it - a little glimpse inside my heart of hearts. I don’t know yet whether I’ll see all these dreams come to fruition. Maybe over time some of them will change. I’m sure new dreams will emerge. It doesn’t matter. Just having those dreams gives some kind of meaning and direction to my life.

Go on…. Dare to Dream….Dare to Share Your Dreams.