So maybe I have just watched "Eat. Pray. Love" and still have an upbeat, hopeful and inspired outlook on life. Maybe I did have an "a-ha" moment whereby I realised I shoud grow where I've been planted and hindsight is just a place where regret and could-haves do a dance. Maybe the character represents the part of me that also has a happy box of National Geographic traveller articles, lists of desirable destinations and a Buenos Aires guide. But thankfully I can smile and remember that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. If only for the moment.
Now please don't confuse me for the "I love my job always" person or one who has settled and is free from the insatiable desire to travel. Many a time, I could'nt be further from those ideals. There are ample days when if I have to answer one more call, press the button or reply to another enquiry email; I feel a step closer to be carried away in straight jacket only to be restrained from banging my head against the computer screen.
It's usually on those "I hate my job" days that my travel odometer goes into overdrive,veering dangerously in the red zone and sending alarm signals to my brain telling me that it is crucial for my sanity to pack up and leave. The beaches of bali beckon, good money beckons in Korea, spanish lessons and tango whisper in my ear from argentina.
I even dwell in hindsight's living room and wonder why I didn't fully acknowledge the full magnitude of living in Hawaii for a full 3 months. Three months on a tropical island decorated with palm trees, volcanoes and black sand beaches. Eternal heat, snorkeling, stand-up paddle boarding, killer sunsets EVERYDAY. I don't even think I took full advantage of residing in paradise.
That's because nothing here or now is perfect. No place is perfect. You heard me. Whew, now that the pressure is off, we can all be freedom and be happy with all we do have. At some point you realise you're not meant to catch up with time. You have to find contentment in the now. Become friends with the present. Before you know it, that too will be gone and you'll be left wishing you made the most of it. And you really don't want a visit from regret.
So I'll stop comparing llandudno's aqua-marine blue waves to that of Hawaii's Kua Bay, stop wishing I surfed more waves there and try see the irritating parts of my job as an opportunity for development and growth and remember that this is NOT all there is for me. There is a season for everything under the sun. My mission is here and now. And I'm so much happier when I embrace today and disconnect my escapism default.