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Positive attitudes make bad days better
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I hear it all the time. “How do you do it?” Meaning—how do I live in such a tiny space, on the road, with only a limited amount of my belongings in my possession? More than one person has told me they could not do it because they loved their stuff too much or they need their space, or various other reasons.
I’ll have to admit that it would be much more difficult if we lived in a twenty-four foot travel trailer designed for taking to the lake a few weekends out of the year. Most full-timers have big rigs equipped with microwaves, thirty-two inch TVs, and one or more slide-outs. I have seen people living in small trailers, and some of them with a big dog! Yes, even I wonder how they do it.
In my next post I’ll tell you some things we have done to make our already nice 5th wheel more livable.
But when the road gets rough and circumstances are stressful, I’ll say successful RV living begins in the mind.
First, the why you do it has a lot to do with the how you do it. It’s called motivation.
Many full-timers do what they do because they simply want to. The desire to travel is stronger than their desire for possessions or a more conventional lifestyle. Others of us have little choice because the jobs we have require us to relocate often. Being completely mobile is the only practical way to live.
Even when you are strongly motivated to live what some call the gypsy life, there are days that can be difficult at best. Unless you live alone, personal conflicts (even minor ones) create the need for personal space. Most large 5th wheels and motor coaches only have three rooms if you count the bathroom. It is hard to blow off steam and cool down after an argument in a home that small.
Lack of community, missing family and friends, a limited wardrobe, (the list is long) all war against the most powerful motivations for RV living. That’s when the only way you can be successful and happy with your mobile life is by keeping your attitudes in check. Self-examination and self-control are the big players in the how-do-you-do-it game.
Here are some tips on how to keep a good attitude on difficult days.
- Every morning take a few minutes and focus on what is really important in life. If you are not in jail, in a hospital, or in a morgue, it is going to be a good day!
- Write down at least three things for which you are thankful. Then thank the good Lord for those things.
- Be quick to admit when you are wrong and even quicker to forgive when you have been wronged.
- Look in the mirror, smile at yourself and say, “Today I will be content with where I am and what I have, and I will do what I can to make someone else’s life better.” Then get busy doing it.
You know what? Even if you don’t live in a shoe box on wheels, these might be good things to put into practice. Try them and let me know how things turn out.
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