The difference between wanting and getting what you want

I have been thinking about this post for a little while now...and I haven't been quite sure how to write it all down. I guess it is because sometimes I am afraid about what I want. Not that its bad (get your mind out of the gutter) or even that unique, but writing it down makes it real.

1. Travel: If I had my way I would see EVERYTHING. I would travel to South Africa, Australia, China, Russia, backpack through Europe. I was told the other day it was too late for me to be so idealistic, is it? Every time I have traveled I have met new people I love, been to places I won't forget, and experienced moments in "the now." I want to feel that way again.

2. Live somewhere new: This is different than traveling. It involves similar reasons, but home is where you get to rest, where all your things are, where your friends are. To a large extent, this is still Boston, but its wearing on me. I have been looking into London, LA, and New York, my trifecta. I want to make one of those places my home for 2 years, just to see where life takes me.

I want my family to be OK with me leaving for a little while. When talking to my aunt about a month ago, she said she wishes she had just left and lived somewhere else, not let our family hold her back. I don't like to think about it that way. I don't think they're holding me back, I think they are a bit of my excuse.

This brings me to the difference between wanting and getting what you want. I want those two things because they offer a change, a chance to live life at least a little differently and not regret I hadn't done more. But getting to these things is scary, change is scary. But the difference between those who succeed at getting what they want and those who don't is action. Everyone wants a change at some point in their lives, but not everyone acts on it. No one ever said they got what they wanted by just willing it to happen...

I'm going to take the next step, it is just a matter of when, where, how, and actually going after the things I want and not being afraid of getting them.