School is still in session

Summer vacation
I feel like it’s the last month before summer vacation. (Hmm…actually, it is. Scratch that.)

I feel like I did as a kid when it was the last month before summer vacation.

I’m talking about that point in school where you knew summer was coming soon. You’d already picked out the cool summer clothes to wear and were already talking about where you wanted to go for vacation.

You know, that point where you were so excited that you could hardly stand it.

I’m also talking about that point BEFORE it was actually summer.

Monday morning
This morning (I write my posts the night before, so I’m writing this post on a Monday night) I was greeted by five different alarms, all of which I require to begin waking up.

I then talked myself out of bed and impersonated Clumsy the Zombie as I made my way towards the bathroom. With my eyes still closed, I brushed my teeth like every morning before having convinced myself that leaving my eyes closed allows me to get a few more moments of rest. (Yes, I really brush my teeth with my eyes closed. I actually never thought it wasn’t normal until I got married and my wife added that to her growing list of things that make me weird. That list in itself could be a post!)

I left the house and sat in traffic for over half an hour, my blood pressure increasing dangerously every time someone cut me off. I cycled through the radio stations hoping for a song I could tolerate instead of DJ chatter. I eventually turned the radio off.

After over 40 minutes of driving, I reached a giant parking garage near downtown Dallas, Texas. Each level had two giant speed bumps. I went over six speed bumps before I could park.

I got out of my car and went inside.

I was the first one at work.

Yes, work.

I’m still stuck in the template life
I’m so excited because I know that my family and I are headed in an exciting direction. We’ve made some adventurous plans and have already taken steps advancing in a direction.

But when you are married and have two small children, it is a luxury to be able to make quick changes.

We are not yet living with that luxury.

For a while, we are stuck in the template.

It’s still that last month before summer vacation
I’m so thankful for where we’re at though! I really am. My wife and I have very good jobs and have been extremely blessed. Our daughters are happy and healthy. We have the ability to begin making drastic choices and changes that others may not feel they are able to do.

Our life is going really well.

It’s just that I’m now feeling like that kid a month out from summer vacation. I know it’s coming, but am going slightly crazy because I have to wait.

Why am I writing this?
It is important to me that I share this part of our journey.  Just because the choice has been made to leave the template life or any other major life change doesn’t mean failure if it is not occurring the next day.

From an external perspective, our life looks very similar to what it did before our decisions were made. We both still go to work. We still have consumer debt. We haven’t traveled anywhere exciting. I’m not doing freelance or remote work…yet.

At the same time, I would say that since our mindset and our intentions are no longer synonymous with the template lifestyle, we no longer completely fit the template either.

I want others who visit this site to know that my wife and I started in a place where we didn’t have it all figured out. I’m writing this post from my couch with a bottle of water, not from a tropical island while drinking exotic beverages. (OMIGOSH doesn’t that sound good right now!)

I want to make sure to stay as authentic as possible. In doing that, I’m telling you that I’m still in school.

But I can see the end of it!

If you’re hesitating to take make a major (or minor) change because you think everyone who can do it already has, you’re wrong! What things in your life are you hesitating to do because you think you are behind everyone else?