How the big picture keeps my present day probs in perspective.

I’ve always been an avid goal setter.

To Do Lists, Vision Boards, Five Year Plans, New Year’s Resolutions. Love. Em. All.

As a dreamer with a ‘Can-Do’ attitude, deep down, I always knew I could do it. A fire in my belly? Yep, had one of those too.

Global travel, career milestones, Sunday drives in my 1964 powder blue, Karmann Ghia, late night Scrabble games with my smart and swanky husband, a spectacular antique book collection, an orchard full of Meyer lemon trees planted out back, photo albums chock full of memories and a thirst-quenching jug of Superfood Green Juice in the fridge. My Future Life … it was all mapped out.

However when my actual life threw me a curve ball to end all curve balls, that carefully planned future existence was ripped to shreds.

My burning To Do List was reprioritised in a nanosecond.
Lofty adventures became a sobering scenario of day-to-day survival. Medical bills, isolation, relentless suffering and a heart smashed into a million pieces too. Hear that thud? That was me, falling head first into a stark new reality.

Once upon a time, I would daydream about snagging the ultimate career opp, a toe curling romance or planning a Birthday Bash to rival Beyoncé.

But juggling my curve ball, BIG PLANS curtailed down to basics and daydreaming, took on an unexpected spin … Food, Shelter, Medical Care, Human Connection, a comfortable and safe bed to sleep in.

2014 has followed a pretty paired-back trajectory … A To Do List anchored in basic needs, and goals that have a big impact on my quaintly of life.

• Find bedding my body will actually tolerate. (Sleeping with NO mattress 7 months and counting)
• Find a way to expand my very restricted Rotation Diet. (Just a handful of core foods for more than 2 years)
• Increase the amount of time that I can go outside, use electrical items like tv/phone/computer, hold/read/be near books.
• Visits with friends and family.

Not exactly a plane ticket to paradise or my next fab career move, but that doesn’t mean my BIG TIME goals are off the agenda permanently.

I still have those plans for my life. Adventures, family, a walk in Central Park … they’re all there in my future. I know it. I HAVE to believe it. And as I navigate my current survival ‘To Do List’, it’s the MEGA Dream List that keeps me inspired. Keeps my intentions strong. Keeps my vision, razor sharp.

Sometimes, we can get overwhelmed by the everyday, bogged down in deets, stifled by limitations… or even knocked FLAT by a mammoth curve ball to end all curve balls. But when the destination is clear, everything becomes clear too.

Know where you’re headed.
Know where you’re going.
KNOW what the BIG PLANS look like, sound like, feel like. Know it back to front and top to bottom. When you KNOW IT, when you GET CLEAR, the survival scenarios along with the present day dilemmas which lie between where you are and where you want to be aren’t so important after all.

The BIG PICTURE, will always outshine everything. And dear friend, your Future Self IS there waiting for you, just like mine is … with a tall glass of Superfood Green Juice and the keys to a 64′ powder blue, Karmann Ghia.