once upon a time written on a piece of paper

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

We all tell ourselves stories whether we want to think so or not. We have a bias towards certain things more so than others. We buy certain products, shop at certain stores because we believe these things to be true.

Do you shop at the supermarket or do you shop at Whole Foods? Do you stay at the Hilton or Motel 6? Sure some of this may come down to price, but part of it is also the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

I came across an article posted on Facebook today, and I was shocked to read some of the comments. Well, can you read any comments without being shocked?these days? This, however, was not racist, political, dark or deep.

This was different. I was shocked to see some of the stories people tell themselves about travel, money, and lifestyle. Sure some luxuries may be out of reach right now, but it doesn’t have to be that way forever.

The article was posted by the Today Show, WATCH: How the Bucket List Family travels the world with kids in tow. It sounded pretty interesting, and while I do not have kids yet we do plan to, and I would like to travel with them.

 

Facebook screenshot - Today Show - WATCH: How the Bucket List Family travels the world with kids in tow.

It’s got quite a lot of views, likes, shares, and comments. It seemed like more people wanted to point out how lucky of them it was to have this “luxury” of being able traveling the world, rather than anything supportive.

Take this comment for example

facebook comment
“While a great idea/experiment, the average family who may be interested in doing this kind of thing won’t be able to do so, simply because of money/ Guess this is something for folks who can sell a company and live off the profits rather than working…”

There are so many stories going on here. Now money is usually the determining factor as to whether or not you can do a lot of things. I get it, but what I don’t get is why you would think the average family couldn’t do this. You can do almost anything if you make some sacrifices.

What this person is also saying is that they don’t think you could ever do something like this. What is stopping you from starting a company to sell it? In today’s age, there is zero reason to say you have a lack of access to information.

Information and education is more accessible than it’s ever been. You can find information on almost any subject and topic you want. The amount of free information out there is virtually limitless.

What’s even more amazing is that 62 people like this comment! It means that 62 other people agree that this kind of lifestyle will never be possible for them because they can’t start and sell a company.

It’s also kind of funny that they do not talk about the money the man in this story made from selling his app. They go on to say that they decided to travel the world using money from a giant garage sale. This family decided to sell everything they had and travel the world.

What is stopping this particular commenter from doing the same? You don’t need to sell a company, you can start by selling the stuff you already have. Once you get rid of all the baggage holding you back, you are a lot free-er to live the life you want to live. I’d venture to guess that 85% of the reason this person goes to work every day is to pay for stuff they can’t afford in the first place.

Here is another commenter:

facebook comment
“Too bad the kids won’t remember doing all these adventures since they are so young. Should have waited till they are older.”

Why would you wait to travel to the world? Should this family just sit around and wait until their kids are older? That is insane. Also, let’s not forget the other 19 insane people that agree with this commenter.

You shouldn’t really wait to do anything because you are not guaranteed tomorrow. Life is too short to sit around waiting.

These are just a couple of comments, but there are plenty more just like it. I guess this family should have asked what these random facebook commenters thought before they decided to sell their stuff and travel the world with their kids.

We can sit around and watch these people have a good time, living the life we wish we could be living or we can do something about it.

No one mentioned how much this guy must have worked to build an app that was good enough to be bought in the first place. For all we know, this guy could have spent 3 years working 80 hour weeks to build this app.

Most people are not willing to work and sacrifice their time now for freedom later. The reason this family has the “luxury” of living this lifestyle now is because they created it.

We are all capable of creating and doing way more than we think we are. What’s holding you back? What stories are you telling yourself?