WIRL To Leave Life and Find Happiness.

WIRL To Leave Life and Find Happiness.
What It’s Really Like To Leave Life and Find Happiness.

This is a WIRL I never expected to be sharing. To be honest (isn’t that the point here), I had no idea that I would be living in Bali, Indonesia. Or that I would truly enjoy writing.

Just over a year ago I set myself free.

I decided in a single moment that I wanted nothing more in life than to create endless happiness and freedom. I chose to leave a life that most might consider to be great, but to me was just mundane and never enough.

After a bad breakup, loosing a home, my dog and a lot of money, I actually felt more free than ever before, despite the fear and sadness inside.

I began learning about manifestation as I dedicated much of my time to meditation, yoga and understanding intuition while discovering myself, my true self. Soon, I learned to let those fears become my compass and I became empowered to actually live a life that most dream about.

I changed the way I saw everything and everything I saw changed.

Listening to my dreams and always looking for more of what would create endless happiness, I started to share out loud about my desire to travel. I wanted to be able to work and travel, anytime I wanted. Without plans, without an end date, without anyone telling what to do or how to do it.

I just wanted to go out and explore the world and discover more of myself in the process. And I wanted to go to Asia.

Then came the first of many magical manifestations. In one week I received two unimaginable opportunities to make this dream of endless travel come true. First, an invite from my cousin (currently living in Hong Kong) to join her on a yoga retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The resistance of having no money set in, and she quickly brushed it off saying she would cover the fees and I could pay her back by the time the trip came around 6 months later. Perfect!

Only three days later, I received a call from a friend saying that Priceline.com had a glitch on their website. I snagged a one way ticket from New York, to Milan, to Prague, to Paris, to Bangkok (yes 5 flights in 1) for $177. And guess what, the flight from New York took off exactly one week after I would return from the first trip!

I had no idea how I would make it work, but my intuition said, “YES!” So I listened. With 6 months to prepare, I learned about couchsurfing.com, workaway.info and made a financial plan. I didn’t make any serious travel plans though. I just went with the flow. (And made sure I was at the right airports at the right time!)

In my heart I knew that I could create money and resources that would sustain my travels for as long as it was meant to be. I never bought a plane ticket home.

I left on September 23, 2014 and besides the one week in between the trips, I haven’t been home since. Europe was amazing, but cold in the Fall. I explored Thailand from North to South for an entire month after landing the last leg of the “glitch” trip in Bangkok on November 7th.

Throughout the entire journey, I continued to discover not just the world around me, but the world inside. As a photographer, I found new freedom in capturing the expressions of other cultures. I started to write about my experiences and share openly about my struggles and the lessons learned all while staying in awe of the fact that I created this. I found my happiness.

During all the adventures, inspiration hit in many forms. I started a blog called, Live Wonderful. And I started to fall in love with writing. At first it was just to share my travels. But the blog quickly became much more than that.

Now, it is an inspirational place for you to start believing in yourself too and reaching for pure happiness. Everything I write comes from my heart. It’s my real feelings, thoughts processes and the actions I take along this journey we call life.

“The best freedom is being yourself.”

My hope is to empower you to let go of past stories that are trapping you into a life you know isn’t want you really want. Discover your true passions and discover the real you. Because as long as you believe in yourself, anything really is possible.

Some say that are afraid to travel or afraid to change anything in their life. They feel safe and secure (enough) to just stay the same.

But I ask those people, “Are you truly happy?”

I learned quickly that to find happiness and enjoy every moment, I had to embrace all obsticles and opportunities alike. I had to go with the flow, allow my fears to be recognized but not let them take control.

While in Thailand, I discovered another desire within, I wanted to volunteer my time and talents in such a way that would allow me to create a home (away from home) for a little while. I wanted to be able to keep traveling but also have a humble abode to work, create and unpack the backpack for a bit.

And by following my intuition, but holding on to no expectations, I booked a one-way flight from Thailand to Bali, Indonesia to begin working as a volunteer to help develop a creative center.

Now, 5 months after arriving (and one round trip flight for a VISA run to Singapore), I’ve done it again. I’ve created a life I never thought possible, until I made it possible. I believed in the endless possibilities of life, I believed in myself, in my passions and in my intuition.

I write to you today from Bali, feeling grateful and still in awe of the magic of life.

Someone once told me that the best teacher in life is travel. I believe this is true. It sure has taught me more about the world and who I am in it.

But before you can choose travel, you have to choose to believe that you are capable of absolutely anything you want.

The real question is, “Do you believe you deserve everything you want?”

We all deserve happiness, and I’ll spend the rest of my life exploring the possibilities of that truth. I hope reading this will inspire you to do the same.

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Website: http://www.dew-imagery.com

 

3 Comments

  1. Danielle – it’s like this post is speaking to me! Thank you SO much for sharing. I am on my own journey of finding happiness, leaving my ‘safe’ life in the past and leaping into the future feeling more Freedom than ever before. Thank you for this piece, it is exactly what I needed to hear as I drive across the country right now to move. Funny how the universe finds way to speak to us!

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    • Profile photo of Danielle Werner

      Jill, I was so thrilled to wake up to your comment this morning. It’s feedback like this that is universe speaking to me! You’ve inspired me to dive deeper into the subject of manifestation. I write about the other topics here (freedom, happiness) a lot on my blog.

      But hearing from you, I know it’s my next big piece. I won’t wish you good luck on your travels. I don’t believe in it. I will continue to empower you in ways will wake you up to let you see that freedom to be yourself everyday. I encourage you to check out my blog and check out my newest post (it’s going up tonight) specifically. It’s about love and support. You will love it.

      Thank you for inspiring me, thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback. I look forward to connecting with you more!

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    • Profile photo of Danielle Werner

      Jill, where are you coming from and going to? I drove from Florida to California two years ago!

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