The Rivera Maya located in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula is one of the top travel destinations in the world. The resort at El Dorado Royale (located 47 kilometers south of Cancun) is one of the top rated resorts north of the equator and my wife and I found out firsthand why. We had the pleasure of celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary at this extravagant all-inclusive resort. From the swim up casita suite to 24-hour room service, we took four days to indulge, celebrate and reminisce on our first year as husband and wife!
INDULGE
At an all-inclusive resort, it’s easy to indulge. Actually, I’m pretty sure it is encouraged. This was my first time as an all-inclusive guest and I loved it! We paid for our trip in advance, so once we arrived at the property, I didn’t have to pull my wallet out once for food, drinks or activities. It was awesome! One thing I also found very easy to do was indulge in all the resort amenities. For four days we could eat, drink and enjoy everything El Dorado Royale had to offer.
While I made sure we got our money’s worth, I had a thought run across my mind. What if I indulge every day for what it has to offer? Regardless of my circumstances and current situation, what if I took advantage of every opportunity (or obstacle) that presented itself daily. Now I am going to need some wisdom to do that, because I can’t do everything that pulls for my attention, and neither can you. But what if, as we look through the lense of wisdom, we approach each day, fully present and fully committed. I have no doubt, with that type of attitude, things that once looked like obstacles will begin to take form as opportunities. It’s going to take some time, but isn’t that how diamonds are formed? Diamonds are one of the most precious and highly sought after gemstones in the world, and they didn’t appear overnight. They are formed in a high temperature and pressure area, over time. I also found out that my wife agrees with the famously coined term, Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.
CELEBRATE
My wife and I love being active! Sure, lying on the beach is awesome (definitely one of her favorite things to do) and we did plenty of that but we also participated in a lot of activities. If you don’t like being active, this list may be a bit overwhelming but it was perfect for us! We did a bike tour, snorkeled, kayaked, swam, ran, played volleyball with new friends and enjoyed nighttime activities and shows the resort offered.
As we were leaving the resort on our last day, we both looked at our clocks and were sad to be missing out on the 11:00 AM time slot of volleyball with friends. Amanda was a volleyball ace in high school so she carried our beach volleyball team for sure, but it was the friends we met and fun we had over a few games of volleyball with couples we will likely never see again. Everyone was there celebrating something special in their lives and although we were all strangers on this trip, we could all celebrate together!
REMINISCE
My wife is so good about planning all the details so when we arrived, we immediately made reservations to the top three restaurants on the resort. It was over dinner that we had a chance to discuss and reflect on how special the past year has been. We spent a lot of time replaying our wedding and how happy we both were on that day! We thought about our family, our friends and our vendors (they are just as important – haha!) and how every person’s love, support and time made our wedding so special! We loved looking back on all the memories that were created over the past 365 days but we also spent a lot of time discussing the future. The life we want to design together. What kind of parents we want to be one day (prayerfully), how we want to spend our time and resources and of course the next resort we want to visit!
As special as our past has been, we want to make sure the future looks even brighter! To do that, we must approach every day with complete attention so we can set in motion and intentionally create the desired outcome. Is there an outcome you’re looking for? Something down the road, maybe at home, at school, at work or in the community you serve? Take a moment and think about the steps or opportunities you can indulge in every single day to get you closer to your desired outcome. Be sure to take time and celebrate your accomplishments and the victories of others, it’s so much better that way. As you journey forward, bring some people with you. I bet you can shine a light where they might be struggling and can help them see how much you care, love and support their dreams too!
