What if the life you want has no familiar name?

“Enjoy the rest of your holiday.”

That is what my host said as I left that morning to continue cycling across France.

It caught me by surprise.

I did not feel as though I was on holiday. Every day demanded hours of physical effort, planning and recovery.

But I could not say I was working either.

So what was I doing?

We have familiar categories for how life is supposed to unfold:
We study.
We work.
We take holidays.
Eventually, we retire.

I was travelling through France without being paid, so “holiday” was the closest available description.

But it did not capture why I was doing it.

The cycling tour was an investment in my future:
A healthier body.
A broader perspective.
New stories and possibilities.
Potential future income.
And fewer regrets about how I had used my time.

The activity made sense to me because I was working from different assumptions about what constitutes an understandable use of time.

My host and I were looking at the same activity, but we were interpreting it through different ideas of how life can be lived.

The Perspective Shift

Other people’s interpretations of our choices combine what they see with what they believe a life should prioritize.

When someone’s reaction makes you question a choice, separate two things:
“What might they see that I have missed?”
“What are they valuing differently from me?”

The first may reveal a problem with your choice.
The second may simply reveal that you are trying to build different lives.

Both matter.
But they should not be confused.

Walk your talk,
Franck

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