The White Picket Fence Lie

Get good grades + Go to a good college + Get a good job + Marry your soulmate + Buy a perfect house in a perfect neighborhood + Have a couple of perfect children = Ultimate Happiness

Or does it?

That's what we did with our lives (although not in that exact order). We did what was drilled into our heads by teachers, family members, friends, and society. We'd never stopped to ask ourselves though if it was what we really wanted. We didn't know if it was OUR ultimate happiness. In fact, I think deep down we knew it wasn't.

So it was time to go all in on this company idea. It was time to take an enormous risk and leap of faith.

We made the decision to sell our home and began pouring every spare minute into cleaning up our house and yard. A couple of days before we listed our home, Ben and I stood in our enormous, newly fenced backyard. The kids were in bed, finally, and everything was quiet.

"We didn't even get to enjoy the fence." I tried to smile but my shaky voice gave me away. "This feels so crazy." I wiped a tear from my cheek.

My husband put his arm around me and said, "I promise you that the next house we buy will be even more amazing than you can imagine. We're going to be so rich, and we're going to fix all the shitty things happening in the world right now."

We listed our house and for four days, we couldn't breathe. I did nothing but snap at the kids for every tiny mess they made. I fed them fast food too many times. I took them to the park when it was too cold, and to the store when we didn't need to buy anything.

It was only four days, guys. If it had been one day longer I would have lost it and ended up in a padded white cell. An offer for our asking price came in and we accepted.

Two weeks later, Ben quit his six-figure salary job. Two weeks after that we moved out of our beautiful house and into a rental. 

The day we turned over the keys to our newly sold home, I wrote this: 

"Our house is so empty now that our voices echo as we say goodbye. It's surreal to see it this way, to be leaving. So much life was lived here.

There were tears, yelling, and bitter struggles. There was laughter, understanding, and so much love. Some of my most cherished memories happened right here within these walls. This is where our youngest came home, took his first steps and said his first words. This is where our oldest's bright personality exploded and he made his first real friends. This is where I wrote my first books. This is where all of Ben's plans and ideas finally turned into something real.

It's so hard to say goodbye. But in the end, it's just a house. It's just a tiny dot on a huge map, and all the things that really matter are coming with us wherever we go.

Now it's time to move on to new exciting adventures and live more of life's big moments."

We rented a cute little office space in a building that was built in the 1800's. We ordered Ben a "World's Best Boss" mug from our favorite TV show. And then Ben put his head down and went to work creating our vision.

The true beginning of our entrepreneurship adventure was so bitter-sweet. It was rush of adrenaline, excitement, sadness, and fear all rolled together. We couldn't wait to break free from the mold and build a product that would make people smile.