No Such Thing As Smooth Sailing

No Such Thing As Smooth Sailing

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As I look out my own window, at my own home, and my own view I realize smooth sailing is for other people.

As many of you who follow what I write know, I got into a pretty nasty bike accident in Italy last week and the whole process has been a pain in the ass.

When you go on vacation you plan, you make reservations, you schedule things all in an attempt to have “smooth sailing” on your vacation.

No one wants to get the flu on the first day of their vacation.

No one plans to have a day and a half of your vacation centered around you running back and forth to a foreign toilet with diarrhea.

And when Kathy set up our bike tour of the ancient Roman water system, I didn’t think riding a bike would land me in an ambulance, the emergency room for seven hours and 17 stitches as my “souvenir.”

We got home at 2 this morning, after spending 24 hours up and traveling from Iceland. That doesn’t count the five hours getting there from Rome.

To end our trip on the tone it took most of the vacation, my luggage didn’t get home.

It’s sitting in an airport in Spokane. LOL.

Many of you who follow us know we’ve had some rough vacations in the last few years.

I don’t think that’s our fault or lack of planning, it’s just life when you choose to live on the edge of the edge.

When you refuse to settle for comfortable, you get discomfort.

The trick is learning to be comfortable in discomfort.

When you could care less about the finer things in life and would trade all of it ,in a heartbeat for adventure, bumps and bruises are part of the terrain.

Do I wish this sort of outcome, Hell no.

I’m a guy who, if left to my own resources, would plan all the bad out of my life so I don’t have to deal with the pain.

But I married a woman who lives for risk.

She pushes me and brings out the Navy Seal in me LOL.

I’m not blaming Kathy for anything, not at all.

We choose to live our lives this way and are willing to pay the price because for us, living in safety would crush our souls. That’s how you know you have a soul mate, it’s not someone who showers you with this or that it’s someone who compliments and brings out the part of you, your past tries to hide.

It’s someone who kisses those injured places with the very lips of God.

We will never forget this trip. Lessons often follow long periods of time and seem to rise above the pain, with time.

Our son and his wife really wanted us to go on this vacation with them and we’re glad we did it.

All the great stories tell of storms, danger, hard choices and most of them end leaving scars.

I hope when I’m done with this life I’m not remembered through a cultural looking glass but instead talked about because of my bumps and bruises life gives us to remind us of one very important thing….we are human and need each other.

I’m headed to the doctor in Helena to get my stitches out.

I’m sure scars will be the result.

Each time I look in the mirror I will have a reminder of this time with my kid and his wife.

I will again relive riding home in a taxi, to see Jake, Grace and Kathy waiting at the door to greet me.

I will be thankful for the fancy dinner we had that night, drinking far too much wine and laughing with other patrons in the restaurant about the day from Hell and how I allegedly warded off a terrorist attack. (my story)

God, thanks for the vacation we will never forget and thank you for not letting us plan the life out of it.