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Monday, July 04, 2011

Wanderlust



Cafes along Boedo Avenue, Buenos Aires.Image via Wikipedia















So have my novel and my blog inspired wanderlust in anybody? LOL  My hope is that my blog and novel paints a picture of travelling and living abroad that is inspiring but realistic at the same time.  There are an incredible amount of benefits to doing something nobody has done before as long as you aren't living a fantasy about your expectations to what it's actually going to be like. Today, I'm gonna dish out one of my greatest secrets to my success not only in living abroad but as a person.

Yes, doing what I did requires a level of discipline and good time management, money management as well as the ability to think on your feet and do creative problem solving. But there is one ingredient to my success that I haven't talked about yet. And that is the fact that the moment that I feel any kind of instructions given on what to do or how to do things, I get it done immediately. I don't argue and I never go against doing what I feel like I'm suppose to do after having meditated.

I could literally write another novel on all the little things that I did that didn't make sense at the time but God told me to do it. For example, when I got into my last work place there was a program where we could have money taken off our paycheque and put away. After praying, I felt to go ahead and do that for a small amount, perhaps $10 a month. A year and a half later when God tells me to quit my job and go to Argentina, that amount that I had been putting away was now $1300, just enough for my ticket to Buenos Aires. If you read the novel, you know that God told me to learn spanish one year before I went to Argentina even though I didn't know I would end up in Argentina.

There is more, when I got to Argentina for my second trip, God kept giving me directions. He was the one that seperated me from Marisa in October when I ended up at another church branch. I felt like it was meant to be but I was not happy about what God was telling me to do. But he was doing a work inside both of us and we needed to be seperated. And then God told me to go to Montevideo for 4 days to see her even though that money that I used to get there is what I need for groceries. But I did what I felt what I was supposed to do anyway.

If at any point in the past few years I didn't do what I was supposed to do when I felt like I was supposed to to it, the 1st trip to Argentina would not have existed and this blog or novel would not be in existence either. If I had not seperated from Marisa or if I had not gone to Montevideo and instead just went to Colonia because I fear what would happened if I spent the money, the novel would not have come into existence. Everything that I did eventually became part of the novel that I wrote.

There is even more to this story that I wanna share with you. As you know, I lived in Boedo for 9 months. Again, I prayed and this was where I was meant to be and I felt peace about staying for this period of time. But why Boedo? And why was I meant to stay as long as I did? Boedo is lovely but why would God pick Boedo specifically and ask me to stay here.

It was in my last 6 wks in Argentina that I found out the reason why. There is this girl who was an acquaintance of mine that I met on my last trip in the other church branch. One day in April, we bumped into each other while on my way to withdraw money from a local bank for my rent, one that she works at here in Boedo. It was a pleasant surprise we had a nice little chat and added each other on facebook and started talking again. Nothing huge or spiritual.

We talked about getting together but didn't end up doing it until June in the last 6 wks of my trip. One day after her work, I met her at Pan y Arte,  a cute little cafe that has Mendoza cuisine. It was then that as we were talking, she spilled out stuff about her life and I realized that God placed me in that moment to support her and be there for her. The stuff that had happened to her had only started to happen within the past 2 months before, around the time I bumped into her the first time.

Due to her work schedule and location, it is hard for her to connect with the church people. This is one of the reasons God told me to go live in Boedo, God knew about this girls life and that she would need a friend. Because I  booked an apartment in Boedo, I was right around the corner from her workplace. And the events in her life did not happen until April and it was June when I talked to her. This is why I had to stay in Buenos Aires as long as I did and this is why felt to stay in the location that I did.  And because I listened, I was able to make a difference in a person's life.

Wanderlust is great! But it's even better when you know in your heart that you are somehow part of a bigger plan thats gonna make a difference in the lives of others. The key is to always do what you feel meant to do in the moment that you sense you are supposed to do it. Truthfully, there are many adventures waiting to happen and novels waiting to be written by people who refused to accept the status quo and let their wanderlust read the way. What untold story is waiting to unfold in YOUR life?



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Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas