I was raised by a father who rarely took a vacation and often worked six or seven days a week. I followed the same path. I worked long hours, sometimes ten to twelve hours a day often for seven days a week, month after month. I rarely took time off and when I did indulge in a vacation, it was usually to visit family and, as many know, those types of holidays from work are not always restful and often not fun. My husband, now deceased, had a similar childhood experience. When his family rarely took a “vacation”, it was a two, possibly three, day trip to one of the beaches east of their home in Gainesville. Not exactly great travelers, were they? At least the few vacations my father initiated took us out of our state!
During our nearly thirty year marriage, most of the vacations my husband and I took were what I call “obligatory vacations” - visiting long-distance relatives, attending weddings or funerals, or pre-move trips to find a place to live, etc. Those obligatory trips often had some moments of fun and joy, but, especially for me, were still working vacations. First, we traveled long distances, usually driving 6 to 16 straight hours - not restful or fun. And, spending a week at a relative’s home did not excuse me from domestic duties. I still helped with food preparation and cleanup. I still did laundry. I often helped with childcare and housework, depending on who we were visiting. A few days off from my paying job was nice, but sometimes I did more domestic work on vacation than I did at home.
Because cash was always in short supply, these obligatory vacations were less expensive and all we could afford. Because of our lack of funds and because of the long hours necessary at the majority of my jobs, the most we could manage was possibly one vacation a year that lasted for more than a long weekend. Many years we did not even take that one week.
In my childhood, I dreamed of traveling. In fact, I wanted to be a travel writer, venturing around the world and writing articles, stories and books about my experiences. But, as often happens, I grew up and discovered, or decided, that life had different plans for me. Rather than being a world traveler, I reluctantly and resentfully became a home-body. My world travels were reduced to a very few obligatory vacations to visit family and friends with the longest trip being from Florida to Maine to visit my mom. Two exceptions were trips to Niagara Falls, Canada - one to accompany my niece to a wedding she was attending and another to attend a wedding of my own friends. Both trips were fabulous, but definitely the exception to the norm of my life.
For the first few years of my “new life” after leaving my husband, money, and credit for that matter, was even tighter and the most I could manage was a couple of days in St. Augustine each year. Then, I sold my former home in the country. By the time of the sale, the real estate market had crashed and the purchase price had been reduced several times just to release me from the mortgage, insurance and tax expenses. After paying off the mortgage and a few home-related debts, the cash in my pocket was much less than I’d ever thought possible. Most of that cash went to pay off other financial obligations, leaving me with even less. But, still, that less was more than I’d had in my bank account for many years. After experiencing such rough financial times, my plan was to save the money, using it very conservatively, when needed. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had, so a hoarding mentality took over my mind. Even though I’d been practicing the Law of Attraction and even though I know that money only has energy when it is being used, I chose to live small and hold tightly to what little I had. Until. . .
One day, while my man and I were passing time in the public library while some repairs were being done on my car, I picked up a book called “Do Less, Achieve More - Discover the Hidden Power of Giving In” by Chin-Ning Chu. That book and “Creative Visualization” by Shakti Gawain are the two books at the top of my prosperity recommended reading list. The book is short and easy to read, so please make the effort.
While reading that book, I had what Oprah calls a “light bulb moment”. The author tells the story of a 53-year-old woman (I was 54 at the time) who was raised in France and immigrated to the U.S. in her twenties. She longed to return for an extended visit to her homeland, but the expense of such a trip and her loss of time from work led her to settle for no more than week-long trips, which were never long enough. Even after being offered a rent-free home for two months in France, she hesitated because of some pressing responsibilities at her job and because she feared losing her job if she took so much time off. She struggled in vain to find a way to connect such a visit to France with her job so she could justify the lengthy stay with her employer. Frustrated and disappointed, she nixed the idea of a two-month stay in her homeland. When she told a friend that there was no way she could go, the friend said, “You weren’t born to work yourself to death. You were born to fulfill your desire for experiences. To love well, which includes fulfilling your righteous fantasies, leads you to complete your desire to experience life. To your soul, the fulfilling of fantasies is as important as accomplishing your career goals. It is wrong to die without satisfying those fantasies.” The woman heeded those words and scheduled her trip. That extended stay in France changed her life forever. She reconnected with an old high school boyfriend, their romance was rekindled and they married. Her American employer valued her work so highly that he allowed her to continue working for the company from her new, permanent home in France.
That story was my light-bulb moment. The words “righteous fantasies” energized and haunted me and, while sitting in the library, I made the decision to use some of the cash from the sale of my home to take a long-dreamed-of trip to New York City. Within a week, reservations were made and in less than a month, my man and I were off to the city he loves so much and to which he always wanted to introduce me. Our trip was amazing. I’d always wanted to visit NYC, but I never dreamed I would love it so much. Visiting NYC was one of my “righteous fantasies”. I took ten days off work - the longest I’d ever been away from any job and the longest time off I’d taken since starting my business 11 years before. Since then, we return to NYC every year and each trip is as amazing the ones before.
I would have thought that leaving my work for ten days would be impossible, but once I voiced the intention of the New York City trip, all fell into place with amazing simplicity. The travel plans came together easily. My work magically slowed to a level that was reasonable to abandon for ten days. Loose ends tied up into lovely bows of anticipation. A trip that had once seemed impossible became righteously doable. And, I have found that to be the case when engaging in other plans. If the plans are truly righteous, if they are truly what I need and what I desire, if they will elevate, educate and evolve me, if I will have time for rejuvenation and fun, all the details come together like cake batter ingredients - smooth, sweet and tasty!
It has been years since I thought of “righteous fantasies”. It took Manifesting Mount Dora to bring those words to mind. The word “righteous” means morally or ethically justified. It seems odd to think of our fantasies as being morally or ethically justified. Righteous just does not seem to be the correct adjective to pair with the word “fantasies”. But, why don’t we think of our fantasies as righteous? We are here to live large, to experience boldly. But, most of us live small and in fear. I pledge to start visualizing and manifesting other righteous fantasies. Mount Dora is already in the works. What next??
During our nearly thirty year marriage, most of the vacations my husband and I took were what I call “obligatory vacations” - visiting long-distance relatives, attending weddings or funerals, or pre-move trips to find a place to live, etc. Those obligatory trips often had some moments of fun and joy, but, especially for me, were still working vacations. First, we traveled long distances, usually driving 6 to 16 straight hours - not restful or fun. And, spending a week at a relative’s home did not excuse me from domestic duties. I still helped with food preparation and cleanup. I still did laundry. I often helped with childcare and housework, depending on who we were visiting. A few days off from my paying job was nice, but sometimes I did more domestic work on vacation than I did at home.
Because cash was always in short supply, these obligatory vacations were less expensive and all we could afford. Because of our lack of funds and because of the long hours necessary at the majority of my jobs, the most we could manage was possibly one vacation a year that lasted for more than a long weekend. Many years we did not even take that one week.
In my childhood, I dreamed of traveling. In fact, I wanted to be a travel writer, venturing around the world and writing articles, stories and books about my experiences. But, as often happens, I grew up and discovered, or decided, that life had different plans for me. Rather than being a world traveler, I reluctantly and resentfully became a home-body. My world travels were reduced to a very few obligatory vacations to visit family and friends with the longest trip being from Florida to Maine to visit my mom. Two exceptions were trips to Niagara Falls, Canada - one to accompany my niece to a wedding she was attending and another to attend a wedding of my own friends. Both trips were fabulous, but definitely the exception to the norm of my life.
For the first few years of my “new life” after leaving my husband, money, and credit for that matter, was even tighter and the most I could manage was a couple of days in St. Augustine each year. Then, I sold my former home in the country. By the time of the sale, the real estate market had crashed and the purchase price had been reduced several times just to release me from the mortgage, insurance and tax expenses. After paying off the mortgage and a few home-related debts, the cash in my pocket was much less than I’d ever thought possible. Most of that cash went to pay off other financial obligations, leaving me with even less. But, still, that less was more than I’d had in my bank account for many years. After experiencing such rough financial times, my plan was to save the money, using it very conservatively, when needed. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had, so a hoarding mentality took over my mind. Even though I’d been practicing the Law of Attraction and even though I know that money only has energy when it is being used, I chose to live small and hold tightly to what little I had. Until. . .
One day, while my man and I were passing time in the public library while some repairs were being done on my car, I picked up a book called “Do Less, Achieve More - Discover the Hidden Power of Giving In” by Chin-Ning Chu. That book and “Creative Visualization” by Shakti Gawain are the two books at the top of my prosperity recommended reading list. The book is short and easy to read, so please make the effort.
While reading that book, I had what Oprah calls a “light bulb moment”. The author tells the story of a 53-year-old woman (I was 54 at the time) who was raised in France and immigrated to the U.S. in her twenties. She longed to return for an extended visit to her homeland, but the expense of such a trip and her loss of time from work led her to settle for no more than week-long trips, which were never long enough. Even after being offered a rent-free home for two months in France, she hesitated because of some pressing responsibilities at her job and because she feared losing her job if she took so much time off. She struggled in vain to find a way to connect such a visit to France with her job so she could justify the lengthy stay with her employer. Frustrated and disappointed, she nixed the idea of a two-month stay in her homeland. When she told a friend that there was no way she could go, the friend said, “You weren’t born to work yourself to death. You were born to fulfill your desire for experiences. To love well, which includes fulfilling your righteous fantasies, leads you to complete your desire to experience life. To your soul, the fulfilling of fantasies is as important as accomplishing your career goals. It is wrong to die without satisfying those fantasies.” The woman heeded those words and scheduled her trip. That extended stay in France changed her life forever. She reconnected with an old high school boyfriend, their romance was rekindled and they married. Her American employer valued her work so highly that he allowed her to continue working for the company from her new, permanent home in France.
That story was my light-bulb moment. The words “righteous fantasies” energized and haunted me and, while sitting in the library, I made the decision to use some of the cash from the sale of my home to take a long-dreamed-of trip to New York City. Within a week, reservations were made and in less than a month, my man and I were off to the city he loves so much and to which he always wanted to introduce me. Our trip was amazing. I’d always wanted to visit NYC, but I never dreamed I would love it so much. Visiting NYC was one of my “righteous fantasies”. I took ten days off work - the longest I’d ever been away from any job and the longest time off I’d taken since starting my business 11 years before. Since then, we return to NYC every year and each trip is as amazing the ones before.
I would have thought that leaving my work for ten days would be impossible, but once I voiced the intention of the New York City trip, all fell into place with amazing simplicity. The travel plans came together easily. My work magically slowed to a level that was reasonable to abandon for ten days. Loose ends tied up into lovely bows of anticipation. A trip that had once seemed impossible became righteously doable. And, I have found that to be the case when engaging in other plans. If the plans are truly righteous, if they are truly what I need and what I desire, if they will elevate, educate and evolve me, if I will have time for rejuvenation and fun, all the details come together like cake batter ingredients - smooth, sweet and tasty!
It has been years since I thought of “righteous fantasies”. It took Manifesting Mount Dora to bring those words to mind. The word “righteous” means morally or ethically justified. It seems odd to think of our fantasies as being morally or ethically justified. Righteous just does not seem to be the correct adjective to pair with the word “fantasies”. But, why don’t we think of our fantasies as righteous? We are here to live large, to experience boldly. But, most of us live small and in fear. I pledge to start visualizing and manifesting other righteous fantasies. Mount Dora is already in the works. What next??
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