#TravelGoals and winnng the World Cup of life

LJ taking the field at an Ottawa Fury clinic.

“Life is like a game of soccer. You need goals. If there are no goals in your life then you can’t win.” - Unknown
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​I have #goals.

But that’s not unusual; I always have goals. Just this week I pledged to drink more water, finish another photo book and make quesadillas.

​Right now, I’m losing 3-0.

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Right now, I’m drinking a glass of wine, I’m not even positive where the photobook file is on my computer, and I forgot to ripen the avocados so we ate scrambled eggs for dinner. ​

Setting a goal is like coming up with the soccer play. It’s relatively easy and doable. But actually getting that ball in the net and achieving the goal…that can be hit and miss, especially when there’s a bunch of other stuff trying to take the ball away or make you trip over your own feet.

There are lot of plays I want to make during this trip – things I hope to see and do during our travels. Many involve food, wild animals and glasses of wine at sunset. However, there are three big goals for this year that aren’t really about the destinations. This year, the game is long and time will be on our side. I want to use those extra minutes, hours and days to do the things I’ve put aside – things that can fulfill me beyond being a homeschooling mom to LJ, a partner to L and a professional to my clients. I want to do some of the fancy footwork, the things that have little element of need to do, just want to do.

The things that are for me.

I want to run.

I need to exercise more and I’ve been promising myself that will change once we leave. The thing is…I love the idea of going for a run but I hate running. I admit, becoming a runner is a goal I’ve set before, but I’m hoping time and a new pair of kicks will make it happen. Our plan is to start running regularly as a family as it’s something we can do anywhere. The kid and I will start small and hopefully by the time we get back, we’ll do a 5K together and I’ll proudly add #runner to my Twitter profile.

We’re also bringing a soccer ball on the trip as LJ insists on almost daily soccer practice. She has surpassed both L and I in skill so, in addition to the running, we’ll all be working on our ball handling skills. I feel there’s another big life metaphor there...

I also want to write a children’s book.

In middle school I wrote a children’s book called The Great Lunchroom Heist and my English teacher, who was amazing, encouraged me to publish it. I never did. In my 13-year-old brain other things like my boys, high school and Ace of Base were more important than a story about second graders trading Snack Pack pudding cups. Nevertheless, throughout my writing career children’s lit has always been a source of joy and experimentation.

And now that I have a clever 8-year-old who can read and write, carries big ideas and is embarking on a massive adventure, I have a star for my story and a likely little co-author.

Finally, I want to make some more headway on the novel I started two years ago.

This is a deeply personal project, not even the man knows what it’s about. It’s a story I need to get out, more so for me than anyone else. I was making good progress but life and binge watching several seasons of The Fosters got in the way.

I guess I should think twice before filtering for places with Wi-Fi on Airbnb…

Will I be able to do it all? I don’t know. Life is unpredictable and it will be even more so this year. New distractions and new stressors will pull me in different directions, literally and figuratively. For this game, there are new opponents, new fields and new rules.

Achieving all the goals and winning the World Cup of life is hard.

But with the LJ and L on my side I have a great team and that’s really what it’s all about.

I guess the first step is to down a big glass of water, grab my gear and hit the field.

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pelé