Do you have 'Gift Certificate Syndrome'?

4 Ferries

3 Nights

2nd annual solo motorcycle trip on the Sunshine Coast, BC Canada!

1 stupendous house concert 

Deepening old friendships and making new ones, watching people shine, impromptu decisions, learning to row, enjoying the landscape, and no timeline made this an outstanding adventure! 

 

***

I made this post recently on social media (add/follow along with me, if you'd like!) and I received a private message from a woman who 'loves seeing my adventures and is going to do adventures and solo things like you, one day'. 

 

I replied asking when exactly 'one day' was.

 

So many of us are waiting for the kids to be grown, the partner to be supportive, the work to be less busy, the government to do something or other, health to align, our parents to be less needy, the dog to be better behaved, the dental procedure to be over with, the bank account to be bigger, etc., etc., etc.

 

Many are waiting for 'one day' to come. 

 

I met my new friend, Guy, on my motorcycle trip and he calls this the Gift Certificate Syndrome, "We have a stack of gift certificates, we are just saving them for... I don't know what?!"

 

I'm sure 'one day' will be the perfect day to use those gift certificates, fancy dishes and special clothes also. 

 

I waited for a lot of 'one days', too. And I missed a lot of opportunities. I used a lot of excuses. I spoke about my priorities in one way, but if you looked at my life you wouldn't have been able to tell which priority was higher than another.

 

Sometimes if we can't do things at an 8, 9, or 10 level, we don't do them at all - we wait for all the stars to align and that elusive 'one day' to gently tap us on the shoulder.

 

Sometimes we get lucky and 'one day' comes. But often 'one day' slips through our fingertips and we watch it fade in the rear-view mirror. Or we watch other people enjoy their 'one days'.

 

I asked the woman who messaged me if I could call her and we had a talk that, I believe, may have moved the needle for her. She said right after our call, she received a message saying her colleague had passed away. 

 

 Signs show up, pay attention. Maybe this is one.

 

And in case you lost track of the date, today IS one day. And it's also Day One.

 

What are you going to do with it?

 

I have to go now and use my gift certificates!  Steph