History Part Two

When we were young we both wanted the American Dream. We wanted the big house, the stable job, the perfect family, the big TV. This isn't surprising considering the emphasis on "bigger is better," and when you've grown up dirt poor, those messages are what you see as truth.

So we worked for it. He busted his ass in the business world and was eventually able to start his own company. She busted her ass in the education department and spent many long hours trying to make a name for herself in her professional community.

We didn't wake up one day and realize we were unhappy either. It took years. Years of working hard, fixing what we could, failing and succeeding, self improvement, etc. Years of working through problems and wishing things were simpler.

Then one day in early 2016 she happily sat next to him in his couch corner and said she had a brilliant idea. He looked at her skeptically (as usual) and she explained that she figured out their life plan and goal.

"To travel and serve. To do what most won't. To give up the material focus and focus on what truly matters: people."

Surprisingly, he was on board.

It took us a year to come up with a name. It took just about as long to start downsizing. We still don't have everything figured out and sometimes we wonder if we've lost our minds. Still, we push forward.

We push forward, we argue, we spend long hours trying to plan, hours looking at ways to live in a way that is honorable to our goal. (She is still trying to convince him that a hot shower is a necessity.) And every day we are getting closer to giving up the dream we worked for for so long.

Yeah, so maybe we did lose our minds...