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Yes, Iowa.
After a day of travel that rivaled anything you might see in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, I finally got to my boyfriend's parents safely at 6am on Christmas Day. I can now check "traveling in a blizzard" off my bucket list, thank you very much. For as stressful as the Christmas vacation started, it ended with a new high on the relax-o-meter and some unlikely shifts in perspective.
We spent the holiday in a little town called Denison in Southwest Iowa. Town of about 4,500 people on a good day but it's where my boyfriend, Brent, grew up and his whole family is there. The town is cute. And I mean Norman Rockwell cute. The kind of people who stop at 5:30 in the morning to help stranded out of towners not driving a 4-wheel drive but rather a Mazda 5 minivan in disguise.
His dad goes down to the general store and gets a cappuccino (read: convenient store style where you press the button your ownself). He heads to the office if he needs to and his mom is the consummate and adorable do-gooder as she runs the city pound and saves all assortments of creatures. His sister and brother-in-law have a hog farm, a snow plow and four kids and live a house that has been in the family for three generations. Grandma is tiny, hard of hearing and brought a 12 pack of Miller High Life to Christmas dinner. Essentially, I love these people.
I live in Phoenix and it occurred to me talking to Brent's dad on Saturday exactly how big city life is different than small town Midwestern life. In Phoenix, we focus on the life we live. People have 4 wheel drive vehicles because that's what everyone else has. We buy 3,000 square foot house because they make them. We work 40-50 hours a week because we're married to our mortgage. Here it's about the life we're living. There it's about how your living your life.
These are two entirely different concepts. There people seemed generally content with what they have. They may not have the brightest, newest car on the block but it gets them around safely. They live with the space they have and realize what lives in the house is more important than how much house you live in. Now I'm not saying all those folks are blissfully happy but it made me realize that if I spent more time living and less on building the "life" things might fall into place more.
I'm going to be doing a lot of reflection in the next few weeks on what that looks like. Slowing down a little? Spending less on things I don't need? Letting go of image and vanities? I'm not sure but the idea sure feels good.
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No more spinning your wheels. Get unstuck and grow! You deserve the best life you can imagine. What it takes to make that happen is possible because it is already part of you. http://www.blog.thrive-coaching.com http://www.thrive-coaching.com
