It's Just a Question
Why? It’s the question we all love to hate. Whether it comes from a stubborn and rambunctious toddler, a parent, a boss, an employee, or a friend, there are few questions more challenging than a simple, why? So, it’s only appropriate that is where we start. Before we get into what we are doing, how we are doing it and where we are going, we’ll start with the why.
Our why speaks to our values, mission and underlying principles. It explains who we are, how we got to this place and what we want to be…not just when we grow up, but what we want to be now. Our why isn’t glamorous, it won’t end world hunger, or stamp out disease. Our why is simple, but sometimes hard and easy to forget. Our why is family.
American Dreamin'
We are a family of five, in many ways, a “typical” family of five. Emily and I met in college. Emily was a city girl from the Pacific Northwest, and I was a small town kid from the high desert of Wyoming. Like 69% of high school graduates in America, we were following the path of the American Dream through higher education. We lived through the ups and downs most college students experience, and happily married after Emily completed graduate school.
Even as I let a few years slip away deciding “what I want to be,” we eventually found ourselves moving on up the career ladder. We would sometimes dream of the life we really wanted to live, one in which we settled down somewhere small, ran a little bed and breakfast and enjoyed spending everyday working together for an adequate, if humble, income. We never knew how we would make it happen, so we reverted to our go to phrase of “maybe someday in retirement.”
Admittedly, I spent plenty of time thinking, “if I could just get to an income of $50,000/year, it would be enough to do what we want.” But, with each benchmark achieved, it seemed we moved further away from the dream. If anything, we were finding more reasons for the “why we can’t” than the “why.”
Leaving the Jobs We Love for the Life We Love
Don’t get me wrong, our lives have been blessed. We have wonderful friends. Our church is incredible. We are able to travel. Our neighborhood is quaint and friendly. We even have awesome jobs! Through higher education and healthcare we have touched and improved the lives of literally thousands of people in our community. And, we’ve found ourselves in organizations in which we work alongside wonderful people who have become close friends.
So, what’s changed? Well, we had kids, they started to grow, and suddenly the tables turned. No longer was the why something we had to weigh against our own career development, our own short-term goals, and the expectations of society. No, our children became the why itself, and suddenly the questions we wrestled with asked not, why? But, why not? Why not take our children’s education into our own hands? Why not sacrifice earnings to invest in the emotional development of our kids? Why not place the health of our family in front of convenience? Why not take a risk our kids will one day be proud of?
Family is our why. It is our motivation, and foremost of the values guiding our steps. The best news of all…family is fun! And, that’s why we say of our journey, “this should be fun.”
What is your why? What does it look like for you to change the question from “why” to “why not?” What are the values guiding your steps? We want to hear from you. So, share your thoughts in the comments and sign up below to receive updates from our journey.
Our Values:
Family: Quality time as we work and grow together
Community: Creating opportunities to engage, know, and serve our neighbors, near and far
Education: Supporting our children and community in the pursuit of learning
Wellness: Cultivating physical, spiritual, social, and environmental wellness
Quality: Appreciating high-quality and hard work over convenience
Absolutely perfect. I love your why : ) Go get ’em, Forbes family!
It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone and pursue joy instead of the money people think will make them happy. I’m proud to call you friends and support/encourage you in this journey! Love you all!