Sometimes I get caught up in wishing for this and that instead of appreciating what I have experienced. For example, I often daydream about going to Great Britain. I even check out prices when Travelzoo sends a message announcing travel at great savings. Some plane fares and accommodation charges are tempting, but we just don’t have the money … especially for the kind of trip I’d like to take! There is so much that I want to see and do that I would have to move there to take it all in.

You see, I want to take a family history trip because my ancestry originates there; and I long for a literary tour to see sites connected with Jane Austen and Wm. Shakespeare. Because of a historical interest in the tragedy of the Titanic, I HAVE to visit South Hampton. I’ve even written two chapters of a Young Adult novel about the voyage, and I think I really need to conduct research beyond the dozens and dozens of books I’ve read. I NEED TO GO THERE, DARN IT!!!

If I truly have an attitude of gratitude, however, I think about the great travel opportunities I’ve enjoyed over the years. I could blog about each one, but will just highlight one favorite with plans to expand upon more experiences at a later time. When I attended college at Brigham Young University, I was involved in the International Folk Dancers. I really couldn’t dance a lick, but made the team because I can SMILE big! Well, each year the director took a group of dancers to Europe. I cannot tell you how much I wanted to go on that tour, but when I asked my parents about the possibility, they told me NO! Can you imagine parents saying no to such a great opportunity – a once in a lifetime chance to dance across Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland. How could they? I wasn’t used to that two-letter word. Of course, I didn’t really ask for much because they were such generous parents.

When Mom and Dad talked over the situation with me, they told me that my sister would not be able to join me at BYU the following year if they spent the money they’d saved for her college education on a trip to Europe for me. What could I say? I don’t remember being all that upset. Perhaps I didn’t think I would really make the traveling troupe anyway because a big smile can only take you so far. I was also very homesick that spring, and ready to return home for a while. Even the lure of Europe couldn’t erase that. I wanted to spend time with Mom and Dad and Connie and Puddles – our Pomeranian/Chihuahua.

Fast forward a couple of years to 1970. I not only visited Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland, I lived in Germany with my cute new hubby and we traveled to those other countries more than once. That little lesson taught me that deferred dreams don’t always mean denied dreams. Such desires are sometimes fulfilled in different ways and at different times than we imagine. And waiting a little longer never hurts and often makes the fruition all the sweeter.