In order for us to accomplish our goal of early retirement, we have to embrace the fear of leaving behind all that keeps us secure and just trust in each other and our plan. A more tongue-in-cheek approach is to take a line from a famous movie, "Talladega Nights":
Reese Bobby: You've got to learn to drive with the fear. There ain't nothing more frightening than driving with a live cougar in the car. If you're calm, that wondrous big cat will be calm too. But if you're scared, that beautiful death machine will do what God made it to do, namely, eat you with a smile on its face.
Now, as sophomoric as this comparison is, we can really relate to it. The cougar for us, symbolizes all the media hype, "negative Nellie" naysayers, and our own lurking self doubts and insecurities. All these factors whisper incessantly to us that we are crazy for leaving the safety of a good job with a plethora of benefits. However, if we trust in ourselves and believe what we are doing is what's right for us, then we will be successful and hopefully show others that it really can be done. We want to inspire other couples (or singles) to do the same thing if they so desire.
We fully realize that we will make mistakes along the way, but if we remain calm and trust in our plan then we will be successful and reap the many rewards of what early retirement has to offer.
Randy