The 24th installment of my #MondayMantra series: I am abundant in meaningful relationships.

As my husband and I work on the final room of our 1800’s home renovation, we can see the light at the end of the looooong tunnel starting to grow brighter; for us. I think our family and friends are starting to see the light a bit too.

For anyone that hasn’t followed my writing over the course of this year, here’s a brief synopsis about the long tunnel we have gone through:

We bought our house in 2008. It was a foreclosure and we bought it with the intent to renovate it while living in it. It was a complete disaster, but we saw hope and had faith that we could transform it. We thought we would live in it ourselves after the renovation, have children and I would continue teaching and Tommy would stay working at his job forever.

Over the course of the 10 years, our view of what we wanted out of life changed.

We decided to sell the house in November 2017 and travel in an RV for a while. The renovations weren’t complete, but my husband was DONE. He did all the renovations himself and he was tired. He was ready to move on.

We put it up for sale and got a contract on it in January of 2018. It was a contingent contract, with the buyers needing to sell their home first. Since we weren’t in a hurry, we allowed the contingency to be renewed once and still, waited.

Then, May 2018 came and the people that put the contract on our home disappeared. (Like, literally, disappeared. (Read more about our experience with that situation here).

We took it as a sign to pull the house off the market, finish the renovations, and then put it up for sale again.

Fast forward six months.

We are now finishing the last room of the house, then will do a few more small touch-ups, and put it back on the market. During this year, we have stuck to our plan of traveling in an RV for an undetermined amount of time after the sale of the home. We also plan to move to a new state at the end of our travels. This plan was not well received by our family. Some friends questioned it as well.

After speaking to several people recently and hearing the way their family and friends reacted to them moving (to a new neighborhood or to a new state), many had similar stories. Many didn’t react very well. They all described feelings of abandonment regarding the moves.

One thing I’ve learned over the course of my life: Many people don’t accept change well. I love change, but others, not so much. However, if you give people some time, they get used to it and gradually become much more accepting.

Feelings of abandonment definitely stem from change.

I believe we’ve been given this year not only to get the renovations done, but it’s also served our family and friends well. They were given the gift of time to get used to our decision and understand we aren’t abandoning them; we are merely making some changes that we feel we will benefit from greatly. I believe we all will benefit from the changes.

I still think they think we are crazy, but it’s something they are growing to accept. They may never truly understand our decision, but they hopefully now understand our relationships will never die. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, they will all stay in our lives.

My mom moved to Florida almost two years ago. My close friend moved to Texas a few months ago. One thing I’ve learned from both situations is how true the quote “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” is. We all have to put in a bit more effort (on both sides) to keep the relationships bonded. I plan to do that with my friends and family during our travels. I’ll do my best to keep the relationships going strong. I can only hope they do the same.

I write “I am abundant in meaningful relationships” in my journal every day. It serves as a reminder for me to keep texting, calling and making plans with my friends and family as much as I can during this busy time in my life. It also helps me reflect upon how important my relationships are.

Think about the relationships in your life right now. Call someone you love. Text someone you love. Make plans with someone you love.

Our time together is limited. Realizing and understanding that everyday can help the relationships you cherish flourish in big ways. Though we may not all “get” each other fully and understand choices we make, true love can be learned from it all.

Sending my light and love to all who need it!

Backstory on my mantra series:

A mantra is a word, phrase, or sound that is repeated to aid in meditation. You could also compare it to a sort of prayer. I feel my journaling and writing of my mantras is a form of meditation or prayer. It calms me and helps me make better sense of my feelings and all the thoughts swimming around in my mind.

I believe saying or writing something repeatedly, as you already have it, aids one in attaining dreams and goals. If you write something as you already have it, it makes you feel, somehow, as if it is truly happening no matter how drastic or scary it may seem. It's like a trick to help your brain catch up to what your heart desires.