Twenty years from now
you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do
than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
I have seen many blogs about RVing that begin with this quote. And why not, it explains exactly how I feel about my new adventure. Let's explore a few more, shall we?
you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do
than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
I have seen many blogs about RVing that begin with this quote. And why not, it explains exactly how I feel about my new adventure. Let's explore a few more, shall we?
I went to the woods
because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.
Henry David Thoreau
because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.
Henry David Thoreau
The world is a book
and those who do not travel
read only one page.
St. Augustine
and those who do not travel
read only one page.
St. Augustine
It's almost like they been reading our mail, isn't it? I find it amazing that some of these quotes are custom-made for how I feel. Let's explore some quotes about downsizing. If you are a regular reader, you know that's what I've been going through. Full-time RVing is not just going camping, every once in a while. It is a lifestyle choice, and one I'm taking seriously.
It is preoccupation with possessions,
more than anything else,
that prevents us from living freely and nobly.
Bertrand Russell
more than anything else,
that prevents us from living freely and nobly.
Bertrand Russell
Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens.
If you have them, you have to take care of them!
There is great freedom in simplicity of living.
It is those who have enough but not too much who
are the happiest.
Peace Pilgrim
If you have them, you have to take care of them!
There is great freedom in simplicity of living.
It is those who have enough but not too much who
are the happiest.
Peace Pilgrim
Our life is frittered away by detail...
Simplify, simplify, simplify! ...
Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.
Henry David Thoreau
Simplify, simplify, simplify! ...
Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.
Henry David Thoreau
Happiness consists, not in possessing much,
but in being content with what we possess.
He who wants little always has enough.
Zimmermann
but in being content with what we possess.
He who wants little always has enough.
Zimmermann
I have gotten to know , on a personal level , a few of the waterfowl that live around here . Every year, we get a migration of Canadian geese . For the past 20+ years, I have fed them from my backyard. They like bread , a lot ! The past few months, I have cut back on what I feed . We have a few Canadian geese that stay here year round . I took these pictures this morning , and I love wild geese eating out of my hand .
I'm going to leave one more quote. I would like each of you, my friends, to read it and contemplate it's meaning . Virgil was a Roman poet. He died in 19 BC. These words ring just as true, and just as hauntingly now, in 2011, as they did back in his day. This is a less than subtle warning to get on the stick. Seize the Day.
Death twitches my ear.
"Live," he says, "I am coming."
Virgil
"Live," he says, "I am coming."
Virgil
Pretty good words of advise from an old dead Roman,huh? It took me a while to decide on a video for today. This would fit the bill:
Money can't buy back
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold
Thank you so much for coming by. I've said it before and I'll say it again.... It means a lot to me.
Michael
Thanks Micheal, I'll be back to keep up after you set sail.
ReplyDeleteBaba Bubba
Can I add my semi-philosophy to living?
ReplyDeleteThe original is .....
"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth."
— William W. Purkey
MY edited version is
Dance like nobody's watching,
Love like you've never been hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like you never gonna die.
Stay well my friend. ......
Thx Baba Bubba, see you then.
ReplyDeleteBen- well said. and true
This is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteDeath twitches my ear.
"Live," he says, "I am coming."
~~ Virgil
Michael one thing I figured out for me before I went full time is that a pile of stuff in a storage unit was wrong for me. My son came and got what he wanted, then my sister got what she wanted and the rest fit into the truck or my 20 foot trailer or it was eliminated. As you know from reading my blog, after three plus years I need even less than I had at the start. This is what fits my style.
ReplyDeleteLove all the quotes, but Virgil's really hits home!
ReplyDeleteAll of them are true...as much now as ever before!
ReplyDeleteYes, I noticed they were all true. Virgil hit the nail on the head. So.....LIVE, it is coming.
ReplyDeleteThis was my husband's favorite piece. I post it whenever I can, hoping that people understand "The Vision". We were fortunate to be able to travel for 3 months a year for a long time, and we made many happy memories through our travels, but, sadly, we didn't make it to full timing, as planned. A split second changed everything six years ago. I seek solace in the memories we made together.
ReplyDeleteI took a six month trip last year, just me and my pup, and revisited places we had been and discovered new places. I found that I could live in a 21ft trailer and be as happy as it is possible to be without my soul mate.
VISION
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of row and row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags will be waving. Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true and pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restless we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering - waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry, "When I'm 18, when I buy a new Mercedes Benz, when I put the last kid through college, when I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"
Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.
"Relish and enjoy every single moment!" is a good motto. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
…Robert Hastings
That was a very eloquent comment. Thank you. My idyllic vision is a combination of many things. The smell of a pine forest, the roar of the ocean, the sight of endless fields of bluebonnets, a dollop of wild honey, my dogs, homegrown tomatoes and true love. Of course, reality varies somewhat. Occasionally though, I get rewarded. I am still going to take Virgil's advice. I'm gonna keep on living, while the living's good.
ReplyDelete