Like I shared on Monday, last week was a hell week. It was truly awful, and I am just glad that it is behind me. But in every moment, no matter how bad things got, there was something to be grateful for. This post is not to shame anyone for not finding gratitude in their situations. I just want to remind myself that there is beauty in the chaos. And as a believer in a higher power, I see miracles in the pervious week.

Two weeks ago, Murphy hit me with the double punch of losing a nanny and infesting the house with caterpillars. The update on that story is that our home has moths from all the caterpillars we did not get out in time. That was the hardest I've been hit up until last week, when Murphy came in guns blazing.

If we can't depend on motivation to carry us through to achieving our dreams, then we have to depend on ourselves. The good news is that we have been relying on ourselves to get through things for a long time. The bad news is that we may not have used the best strategies when left to our own devices. John Maxwell talks a lot about the fact that decision-making is overrated while decision management is underrated.

So let’s answer the question from Monday, how do we keep our motivation when the going gets tough (or boring)? The answer is, we don’t. Motivation doesn’t last. It is a gift that gets us into motion, but we have to rely on physics to keep us in motion. We are constantly held by the law of inertia.

You know the old saying, “When man plans, the gods laugh,” that’s pretty much how this week has gone for me. We are week three into this TDY, and Murphy hit me with a double punch. For those who haven’t met Murphy yet, let me explain.

Last week was the first time I've taken an entire week off of the blog since starting it a year and a half ago. Honestly, I don't have a good reason for why. I spent last week on vacation at the beach, but being on vacation has never stopped me before. And I spent almost no time on the beach during that vacation because we happened to go the same week as Hurricane Debby. It's hard to relax on the beach while a hurricane blows massive amounts of wind and sand your way.

I'm sorry for the delay in getting this post up. Honestly, Wednesday was such a crazy day of solo parenting and traveling. I had managed to write the post before Wednesday since I knew it would be crazy, but the night got away from me. I visited a friend in the hospital, which was really nice, but I stayed significantly later than I had planned. By the time I got back to the in-laws around midnight, remembering to upload my blog was the last thing on my mind.

We may be seasoned pros at separations, but I bet some people here have yet to tackle their first night alone. And probably more of us haven't spent the first night alone at this new duty station. I am very lucky that it took seven months to happen at the new base, but last night was my first night alone in the new house. Every new home and separation will require a system that makes us feel safe and comfortable.

I love the "ready, fire, aim" principle when chasing a dream. This concept states that we should get a plan 60% ready to go and then go all in on it. After we've had some experience, we can return to the drawing board and adjust our aim. We do this because we will never be 100% confident in our plans, and so often, people get trapped in a cycle of planning that they never actually put something into action.

Our lives are constantly changing. People come in, and people go out. There are always births and deaths, weddings and funerals. Life changes fast, and the military makes sure of that. The age-old adage of “expect the unexpected” isn’t something many of us can actually prepare for.

One of the most frustrating things that I hear from fellow military spouses has to do with employment. It is hard enough to find a job, let alone one that fits our education, experiences, and salary goals. It is also hard to grow with any job, not just because we move constantly, but because we have the perception of moving constantly. 

Chasing a dream is all about managing expectations. When we have the appropriate expectations for what we are entering, we can maintain our energy much more easily. There is a balance in setting expectations. Optimists have their hopes dashed too quickly, while pessimists can lose hope altogether.  

I have always been fascinated by the lottery. I'm talking about the jackpot millions that people win, not the short story by Shirley Jackson that scared anyone who read it in grade school. When we talk about it in regards to money rather than being stoned to death or heading into the Hunger Games, it is a fun, crazy proposition. The idea that someone could win mega-millions by just being lucky is incredibly appealing.

It is so vital that we maintain our passion, effort, and attention to detail throughout chasing a dream. Losing any of those ingredients can be a one-way ticket to losing our momentum toward our dreams. We have to do everything in our power to ensure we do not grow weary in well-doing.  

This new venture with insurance led to another dream come true today. This method of sales involves presenting in front of a group of people. My partner and I did the presentations this week and have started moving into the appointment phase of the process. Because of our early success with the program, we were invited to speak on the national conference call this morning.

As I've gotten older, I've noticed that my fear of things has increased. I would now describe things that might have just made me nervous a few years ago as a full-blown fear. I've seen it in real-time with our rock climbing.

In a way, it feels like the night before Christmas. Tomorrow will be a brand new day, and hopefully, the day will include a few gifts I really wanted. All of the holiday stress is behind us as we settle down to fully enjoy the holiday in front of us. Although I guess you could say that before any exciting event. I have the first two events for the new insurance thing I am doing tomorrow. It has been a crazy couple of weeks preparing everything, and today is no different. I have finally crossed the threshold, though, where I am not stressed anymore. I am undoubtedly prepared, but I think that feeling more so comes from the fact that it’s happening tomorrow whether I’m ready or not, so there isn’t time to worry.

Our dreams all follow a similar cycle. I am going to pull a lot of this from The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson, but we see the same sentiment across many books about goal setting and achievement. We all have to serve our time somewhere, and the people who excel quickly often do so because they've put in the time somewhere else. It is also beneficial to identify where we are on the journey. When we recognize the complex spaces we find ourselves in as natural pieces of the puzzle, it is easier to manage those moments.

I fully stand behind the idea that all of the world's secrets are hidden in books. And they can be found anywhere within those books. Fiction books open us up to learning through our imagination. Some of the most profound quotes that live rent free in my head, come from the books that were designed to teach very little. Nonfiction teaches us through information. Both are important ways to learn, and I think the most important thing when it comes to books is that we read them in whatever way is best for us to process that information.

When we formulate our plans, it is tempting to go big. We often overestimate what we can do in six months while underestimating what we can do in two years. I’m sure many of us discovered this when we reached the six-month mark of the year. Many of us have realized that we need a new plan, but I would implore us to focus purely on the basics of our dreams.