Vacation: the Ultimate Alignment
After a year of loss, anxiety, and many cancelled opportunities for our family to escape on trips we finally got to spend a week back in our happy place at Walt Disney World Resort. A week of very little plans, a quick escape to the beach, fun in the parks, and running into more friends than I have in months {I chuckle because it’s kind of true!}. And while yes, our family does often make it a priority to embark on adventures, I have to hit on that phrase “you’re so lucky.” Don’t get me wrong. There are many blessings I count each day, but our trips are anything but luck. There’s a lot behind the scenes in all our lives people never see, and while this week hasn’t even been close to a struggle it hasn’t been only play.
We intentionally work, plan, and save in ways that continue to allow us to live a life by design. Let me pull back a curtain on what that means during a vacation week:
It means you take time for dinners with partners to map big visions. It means taking a 2 hour call right outside of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge immediately after your boarding group finally gets called for Rise of the Resistance {✨still amazing✨}. It means breakfast with one of your longtime favorites and former Disney leader who is always so open with knowledge that keeps me learning and growing {and whom kindly saved me as we took the picture and I tripped out of the flip flop leaving us with me laughing and him looking startled. Always keepin’ it classy}. Walking off a ride to make a note after a spark of inspiration. I got to see fellow travel agents, former WDW college program besties, clients, and even great friends that I never get to see back home yet here we are running into each other in our happy place. All of whom are wonderful parts of the ride of life to define Katie.
Don’t ever feel like you can’t live your dream. People will question you; not understand why you want to make so many {perceived} risky moves. But when you’ve gone on so many journeys and are never satisfied with the destination, it’s time to start carving a path to the ending you know you can make happen.
As Walt Disney is remembered to have said, “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”
It’s never been a secret that Disney is part of my DNA. Even my kids know Oscars is one of my defining work locations. And no, I’m not moving to FL to work for the company, but it will always be part of my mission to bring to others what Disney has brought me.
Stay your course. Live your truth. Even when it doesn’t seem to be taking you anywhere, it' will fuel your soul. And that will be enough to take you beyond your wildest dreams .
