Tag Archives: growth

Day 2851 – Why The Hood Of My Car Made Me A Little Sad Today

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Today may sound a little silly, but we’re all about silliness and simplicity over here. Last week, our car was involved in a minor accident. Today I visited a collision repair place to get an estimate. One of the things that will need to be replaced is the hood of the car. You wouldn’t think the hood of a car would make you thoughtful, but the hood of my car is a little different.

Back in 2008, I was driving from my job in Baltimore City to deliver an order to wedding clients. The sky was like the movies where one side was all blue and birds singing and the other (the exact direction I was driving) was filled with black, dark, menacing clouds. In a short 1/4 mile drive, the rain started to pour. In another 1/4 mile, I thought, wow, that’s coming down pretty hard, like hail. After driving a block or so, I realized it WAS hail. I pulled over and sat in my car as it started to rock back and forth from the wind. I watched the clouds around me swirl. I have never been more afraid and thought I was going to die. As I sat there, leg shaking on the break, repeating “I’m going to die” over and over again, lightening struck close by. It blew a transformer and took out the power in the block. I found out later a tornado had touched down only a few miles away. After many long minutes, the wind died down and I drove off. Very shaken up.

I have dozens of large dents on the car from the rain of hail. I never got them taken out because it is a constant reminder of God’s protection over me that day. As I look back on my life, I realize I’ve had several near death experiences, from a canoeing accident to knowing I probably would have died if I kept driving the night I was arrested. When I made my list yesterday, I left out a big one – there is a reason I am still here on this planet. God has things for me in this life. Whether it’s through my writing, creating a business to help others travel without going into debt, or just being a helpmate to my spouse.

So take heart friends, let the little, silly things remind you of the big things. And excuse me while I go cry over the hood of a car.

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Day 2673 – Why You Should Look Back On Your Life More

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I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I hate that it keeps me connected. I love how it keeps me connected, how it helped grow my business and even helped me to get new business. I do love the On This Day feature. It’s an interesting exercise to look back on things I said over the years. Seeing how I’ve changed – for better or for worse – and how I’ve stayed the same. Fun fact, yesterday was my 12 year Facebook anniversary. Wow, I mean, that’s a long time to be tied to a website.

On November 3, 2010, I wrote this – Jennilyn Gaitan “is grateful for another day to walk, talk, breathe, smell, hear, see and appreciate life. It’s not the greatest day and certainly not the worst, but it’s another day. I’m reminded of how short it is. I have been blessed with a “cup runneth over” life. Even if I’m not photographing full time (yet), even if I have a debt (for now), even though I don’t have a house or a puppy (yet), I will relish the joy of the now.”

Six years ago, I wasn’t a full time freelancer, I was still in debt, I didn’t have a house or a puppy. Little did I know, I would start my freelancer journey less than a year later. We would pay off our debt in 2013. I don’t have a house or a puppy….BUT working for a pet photographer, I have gotten SO opportunities to pet many dogs, get licks and cuddles. Just a few weeks ago, I got to play with 3 mastiffs! I like big dogs and I cannot lie!

I also recently had a bit of an epiphany – I need to constantly push myself to grow. I had been in a bit of a funk. Probably since about July after returning from our road trip. A part of myself came alive during that trip. I LOVE to travel. I love exploring new places and seeing new things. I absolutely adore this country. The varied landscapes and people. I think if more people traveled the country, long distance on the road, we would have a more unified and strong country. I recently watched a segment on Ellen where Michelle Obama made a comment that she would miss going around the country and meeting people. She said, roughly, if you travel the country, you realize how great of a country we have. I sat at my desk, almost yelling, “YES!” Ok…. ::steps down from soapbox::…

So, back to the funk. I hung out with a friend and in our conversation, I made a true admission of where I was with a few things. Finally saying out loud “I am not happy” instead of keeping it inside, felt like a weight lifting. That night, I had a hard time sleeping because my brain was going a mile a minute with ideas and new plans. The next day was one of the best I’ve had in a really long time. I spent a lot of the day watching videos on a new project I’m working on, educational videos on various topics and reading what promises to be a life changing book, Designing Your Life – How To Build A Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans. The theme throughout the day was this – you have to continue to grow, you have to stretch yourself, you have to be ok with failures.

It made me realize just how important personal development is. To truly embrace the journey of life. To not become stagnant. I think this quote from Designing Your Life sums it up best:

“The biggest reframe is that your life can’t be perfectly planned, that there isn’t just one solution to your life, and that’s a good thing. Your life is not a thing, it’s an experience; the fun coming from designing and enjoying the experience.”

I can’t wait to discover all the many solutions to my life. I can’t wait to experience all the experiences.

What will you experience today?

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Day 1917 – How Bret Losing His Job (In 2012!) Still Has An Impact On Us Today

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When I try to figure out what to write about, I typically think through my day first….are we doing anything fun together? Am I doing anything interesting? Am I doing something photography and/or marriage related?

Today, I’m pretty much just prepping for a photo shoot for our March Madness winner….and I’m not going to lie, that’s pretty boring. I spend a few hours charging batteries, backing up images and clearing cards. *yawn*

I’m also trying to kick my to-do list’s butt….which, again, is boring stuff….like selling DVDs, redesigning my blog header, website updates and writing my book. Just. Not. Interesting.

So, when I’m stuck, one of the things I do is look over my lifetime stats and look at what have been the most popular posts. One of the highest is Bret’s guest post on losing his job.

I just reread it and am in awe of God’s goodness in our lives since then. Since that point, we have paid off our debt, shot a bunch of weddings, Bret finished college AND he got a job teaching. I can see how God had to break us of all our pride, all our reasons for trusting in ourselves. The only way we could look was up and we would never be the same.

While we struggle from time to time with trusting in God….our primary orientation is unwavering trust in God. He has cared for us before, how can we not trust in this or that circumstance? I think one of the biggest lessons I take away from this is documenting your journey. Whether it’s a blog, a journal or an Excel spreadsheet. Just keep track of the struggles and triumphs you’ve walked through.

What about you? How do you keep track? When was the last time you looked back?

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Day 1838 – The Secret To Productivity

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So what’s the secret to productivity?

Go by how you feel that day. That’s it. Right there. Take the day as it comes at you and work from there.

I can sometimes be a night owl. Staying up until 2 a.m….3 a.m….etc. I can write like crazy, edit like crazy, whatever. The world is asleep but I am awake. I can achieve more in a few hours than a whole day of work.

I can sometimes be a morning person. Getting up at 4:30 a.m. Knocking out almost my whole to-do list before 9 a.m. (and that’s only because some place aren’t open until 8:30/9).

It all depends on the day.

This morning, I got up at 4:30…Bret teaches an early class on Wednesday mornings. He has to get up between 3:45 and 4. Most mornings, I’ll say my goodbyes and go back to sleep. This morning, I sat up for some reason, and knew that was it. I got up, saw him off and got to work. Today, I am a morning person and it’s wonderful. The to-do list is almost done. Now I can focus on reading and tasks on my list that aren’t priority. It’s an amazing feeling.

What’s funny, is in a day or two, I’ll be a night owl and laughing at myself for getting up so early. 🙂

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
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Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 1828 – A Letter From The Past or How Much We’ve Grown

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While packing some books yesterday, Bret found an unsent letter to me while he was deployed during the first year we were together!

It was so exciting to open the letter and read something he wrote 6 and a half years ago. What struck me the most is how much Bret has grown since then. The things he talked about and the way he talked about them is SOOOOOOO different from how he would now. It was neat to have a permanent record like that, to see a point A and a point B of growth. We both looked at each other after (we read it together) and I’m like, WOW! And he said, I can’t believe you were with me and married me like that! God definitely had his hand in that!

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