I’ve been working on this all day. It spontaneously came to me as I was hiking up a beautiful trail to a beautiful lake in a beautiful mountain range in a beautiful state. I just dropped a glass on the floor and it shattered into many hundred pieces all over the dining room and kitchen. But all is wonderful. My wife and I cleaned it up. We have plenty of glasses. We have each other’s back.
I have a wonderful wife matched by a wonderful daughter. I have sleep apnea and allergies and sinus issues and bursidis and anxiety and I spell poorly. But I also have access to an affordable CPAP and have had sinus surgery and a I have a great physical therapist for my hip and a great counselor helping me get a handle on my anxiety and auto-correct is highlighting that I don’t know how to spell bursidis. Oh, bursitis. Everyone can relax now, it is a “t” not a “d”. Crisis averted.
Don’t get me wrong. I know that the hand that I have to play on this lovely July evening is embarrassingly (two “s’s” by the way apparently) easy. Just like the child the universe or God gave us was also so simple compared to the stories of those that I have heard of (sleeping through the night as an infant….really!) Sure, I am likely closer to death than most people on the planet, but damn, what a great run it has been to this point! I didn’t die any of those at least four times that I can think of when maybe the odds said that I should have. I have been playing with house money for the last two plus decades.
And the whole point of this is not to say, in a Facebook-type of snarky way, look at my wonderful cocktail on my wonderful balcony on this wonderful vacation on this wonderful island (don’t you wish you were me!) Rather, I can’t get good sleep without medical intervention and have a bum hip and am prone to anxiety and spell like a fourth grader, but I have the strength and determination and opportunity to lean on others to help me. So, I try to give back. I religiously write this free inspirational blog twice a month, even if I would rather lie on the couch sometimes. I force myself to be nice and outgoing and supportive to total strangers when I feel strong enough to do so. Hiking up to Snow Lake is one of those times. I happily shared so much love and joy on the trail today. But, I got back about as much in return. Didn’t cost me a dime. This is how we build the world we want, the world we need. This is how we begin to combat the Russian war crimes in the Ukraine. This is how we take tiny baby steps to counter the division and domestic abuse and exploitation and sadness and despair.
I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up and that is just A-okay with me. I really hope you don’t either.
