Postcard Destination

When you think of your future, what do you see? I see a log cabin and barn in the country, a garden, chickens and goats and pigs and horses and cows, a well, split rail fencing, three young boys and a gorgeous little girl chasing fireflies in the yard, me and my husband on the porch swing, sipping sweet tea and enjoying a quiet country evening. That is my ideal future. Now here comes the hard part. How do I get from sharing a house with my mother, no job, a truck that barely runs, and generally no prospects for improving my future other than the degree that I am working on and get to my log cabin in the country? I have asked myself this question many, many times. I used to answer it with “I’ll figure it out.” And a year later, after things have gone downhill even more, I’ve finally realized that I can’t just take things as they come. Nothing is going to be handed to me. Opportunity has lost directions to my house. All the rabbits’ feet and four-leaf clovers in the world won’t give me enough luck to stumble into a better future. I have now realized that I have to direct my life and get it back on course so I can get to my log cabin. J

I have to sit down and map out my life plan. Knowing where you want to go in life is a lot like taking a road trip. You pick a destination and follow the road map to get there. I wasn’t looking at the map. I was just going down any road that caught my fancy. And so here I am, lost with no idea which way is up, but I have this postcard destination taped to the dash and I know I just HAVE to get there. Has anyone else been there? You have this idea in your head and you just can’t rest until you reach that goal. Well, after getting lost and turned around and being broke down on the side of the road with no gas and engine trouble a couple of times, I finally decided that it is time to pull out that road map and take a gander. Problem is, I didn’t pack it!!! So where does that leave me? I have this pad of sketch paper and a pencil. Wonder how much of it I can remember…

So I draw this crude map. I am at Point A and I want to get to Point B. Well, I have my postcard for Point B. And me sitting in my broke down car is Point A. Now… how do I get from one to the other? Well, I’m definitely going to need money to get anywhere. So let’s add a job. Now there’s three points. But wait. The job is on an island in the middle of the ocean on the other side of a huge mountain. So we need to figure out how to get past those obstacles. Well, let’s get a degree. That takes care of the mountain. And then jump in a boat and get some experience. That gets up to the island and the job. We’re doing good so far. We now have five points on our map. So we now have income, a degree, and some experience. Now what?

We need a reliable vehicle. So now that we have income, let’s go to the nearest auto dealer and get us a new vehicle. Maybe two, it’s getting cramped with two adults and two kids in just one vehicle. So now we have income, reliable vehicles and a little more freedom of movement. Next thing we need to do is get some money saved up and to take a break for a little while. After we have income, we’ve got vehicles, and we’re rested and saved money, next it is time to continue on to the cabin. We buy some land and start clearing it and getting it ready for our new cabin. After that’s done, then we go about building the cabin. Once that’s done, we go about the business of having two more little boys. We build up our garden and livestock until we no longer need that outside source of income and can rely entirely upon our own hard labor, sweat and tears to provide for ourselves and our kids. We build our porch and install our porch swing in between caring for the animals and the land and each other.

And then one day, after all the hard work is done and it’s time to relax, you realize that your road map has gone missing. But it’s okay. Because you have finally arrived at your postcard destination.