Craig and I had a discussion as we trudged our way up the steep track out of Wineglass Bay.
The steps were getting a little steeper and the breath a little more laboured. Nanny and Poppy were visiting so were babysitting our kids while we woke up at 4.30am to do the walk to Wineglass Bay and Hazards Beach.
Craig turned to me, “This would have been tough with the kids.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad, we could have done it. The walk is pretty easy really, it’s just this part.” Despite the difficulty of this last section, I loved it, and would love to bring the girls another time.
“Yeah, but with Savannah on your back , it’s harder. Plus this is the most unfit I’ve ever been in my life since we’ve been eating our way around Tassie and Melbourne and drinking thousands of cups of coffee”.
“Yeah, but you just take frequent stops. Get your breath and move on again. It’s worth bringing the kids.”
Craig was not convinced, “Yeah, but then you’ve got to carry all their food and water.”
“So just pack better and bring less.”
Craig opened his mouth to give me the next reason why we couldn’t do it, but I jumped in first.
[ybox_large]“Stop telling me all the reasons why you can’t do it and tell me why you can”[/ybox_large]
If a million dollars waiting for you up the top, you’d run up with Savannah on your back.”
There are a million reasons why you can’t do something, if you search for them. Obstacles and challenges will stand in your way, it’s just the nature of striving forth, but why focus on the cant’s, you just become stagnant.
Focus on the reward at the end and why you can do it – your strengths not your weaknesses.
Why could we walk up the steep Wineglass Bay track with our kids?
Because we’re stronger than our lazy bones would like us to believe.
Because we can implement a few strategies to deal with the extra weight and the children’s needs.
Because the experience of seeing the sunrise over Wineglass Bay and then being the only people around to walk on its white sandy beach is a priceless moment to share with your children. Travel and adventure are the best gifts we can give our children. It will teach them far more than a classroom lesson ever could.
If I focused on the cant’s then I never would have traveled, as I would have said, I can’t because I have no money. Instead, I said, I really want to do this because I know it will greatly impact my life, so I’ll find a way. 16 years later, I’m still traveling.
I’d never have this valuable travel blog, if I focused on my limitations – I don’t know how to write, or market, or code, or design. Instead, I said, I want to do this because I believe I have something to share, so I’ll find a way to make it work.
I’d never have been a mother if I focused on my weaknesses – I don’t know how to even hold a baby, let alone raise one. I forget to water my plants and they die. I don’t think I’ll survive childbirth. But I became a mother twice, because I believed that the power of love would trump all the failings, the torturous labour pains, and not having a clue about parenting.
What are you not doing because you’re too busy saying you can’t. Tell me how you can instead.
(And then acknowledge the can’ts so you can make a plan to overcome them when they arrive).
See, Craig and I are a good team. When he has a down moment I pick him up, and vice versa!
Happy Monday!
I hate that it seems so much easier to come up with the “can’t” rather than the “can”. But you lose out in the end. It helps to have another person though. I know my own husband always has a reason why I can do something up his sleeve, and vice versa. He never would have gone back to uni to be a teacher if I hadn’t convinced him that he could, and I’d never have started my blog or let anyone read my writing if it wasn’t for him. But sometimes you don’t need another person. You just need the voice in your head that shouts “can” to be the voice that shouts the loudest.
Hopefully your own voice can be strong enough, if not it is always great to have someone else helping you! You are your husband sound like a good team
Such an insightful post. Self doubt and a no-can-do-attitude are all too easy to slip into. I think perhaps at these times it’s the comfort zone that we’re spiralling down towards. I know I can be guilty of it, and it’s at those times that our partners need to be strong and rattle our cages, open the door and tell us to fly.
I have subscribed to a lot of blogs of people who travel for long periods but I have to say that you guys inspire me in ways that the others haven’t. It’s not like we actually have anything in common! I am a single, early 40’s, no kids woman but for some reason the things you say really hit me where I need them to hit.
From reading your blog I have gone from “No I can’t do this because I have no money” to “I can do this even if it takes me a couple of years because this is really what I want to do!”. I no longer think I can’t do something, but I also know myself and know that I am not a backpacker kind of gal so if I really, really want to take 5 months off to travel around Europe then I am going to need money.. but that doesn’t worry me because I also know that I am going to do this trip of a life time and I am going to do it within 3 years!
So thanks.. thanks for your advice, your wisdom, your encouragement, your ‘can do’ attitude. Thanks for taking the time our of your lives to inspire people like me, who might need a little kick every now & then.
This is awesome!! You’ve made my day Sarah. Thank you so much for sharing and keep believing in those dreams they are yours to live.
Wow Caz! Great write-up. Thanks for sharing this encouraging piece with us. 🙂 There are times when we miss out on great things just because of our ‘can’ts’ whereas there ‘cans’ hidden within us.
I love this one: It’s not can’t it’s can’try
We did Wineglass Bay with the kids, though not for the sunrise! Yes, it was tough and they were little and do not, in fact, remember it…but we have the memories, and the photos, and lets face it – it IS one of Australia’s amazing places. We didn’t get to go down and “feel” that view but the children did limit us in some ways all over Australia. It would have been way easier without them, on our own, but I would seriously never considering travelling without them wishing the whole time they were there to share the moment, no matter what their age….
So true! And I loved that hike.
I did it with my parents when my mum had a strained ankle… talk about a can do attitude…
Wow that’s awesome!
Great bit of inspiration here, I love it! I will try harder to focus on the can do things in my life! Thanks for these great words of wisdom! 🙂
We did that walk a couple of years ago and I’m sooooo glad I didn’t know in advance how hard it would be. We went down the other side and had a picnic on the rocks, saw our first wallabies and then hiked on along deserted tracks to Hazard Bay. It was an incredible day. Fantastic!
Such a divine experience
I love the phrase “If you think you can’t, you’re right.” It’s cool that you include these psychology/mindset posts as well as the hotel/activity recommendation posts.
People tell me all the time why they can’t travel – and frankly it gets tiring! The truth of the matter is that if you make travel, or anything at all really, a priority – you can do it. There are enough other people who will tell you that you can’t do something without you telling yourself that as well!
Great inspiration! It’s a can do attitude that pulls us up!
Love the UNC shirt…Y’all need to hike our Mountain to Sea trail. You will definitely need a Can Do mind set.
We love our Tar Heels
Great reflective post Caz. Nobody ever achieved anything by saying “I can’t”. Sometimes days are tough but persevere and you’ll find that pot of gold 🙂
Great read! If you really want something, there’s almost always a way to get it. This positive outlook must be how you manage to travel for so long and achieve so much.
I read this and think it applies to so many other things in our lives. Areas where we put excuses and doubt in our mind.
I loved that rhetorical question you asked “if there was a million dollars at the top you’d do it …” I think I’m going to use a similar example when I face negativity around me.
For sure. I think when you phrase it like that you realize just how much you can do, it’s just limiting thoughts you are placing upon yourself for whatever reason