In my world, "what's next" translates to "where" is next.
I'm a Crohnie, and a confessed travel-aholic.
I recently got an email from Trip Advisor announcing the Top 25 landmarks in the World. I've been to 7 of the 25, which isn't too shabby, but it left me aching for more adventure and daydreaming for more. I've walked the awe-inspiring, steep steps of the Great Wall of China, and I've watched a New Orleans jazz performance make 90-year-olds dance in the Sydney Opera House. I've prayed for better health in the golden side chapel of St. Peter's in Rome - once in 2001 and returned in 2012 and prayed for all life has offered those past 11 years - from finding myself to finding my spouse. I've swum in the Croatian sea, fought strep throat across Turkish countryside, ran from my fears in Siena (and met one gorgeous Australian), and marveled at our own country's treasures in San Francisco and Washington, DC.
The thirst is never quenched. I look at the remaining sites and wonder how I could ever navigate them with Crohn's. I've blogged about travel in developing countries, but I admit my own fears after facing a horrible Crohn's flare days after returning from China. I barely ate anything while there, so how could I explore in Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia and other places on my wishlist?
Life isn't about having the answers.
It's not even about meeting all our goals or fulfilling all the wants of our heart.
It's about doing the best we can with what we're given, loving others in the process, and being grateful for what we do have, rather than fixating on what we don't.
Join me in pausing in gratitude, then join me in imagining "what's next" for you. It may be travel for the first time, or taking a cooking class on how to go gluten-free.
Crohnies unite!