sailing

our new endeavor: welcome

July 10, 2021

I think most people understand “sailing through life” as a metaphor for breezing through your time here on this planet. How you actually get through your days dealing with any sort of struggle is actually more accurate. There are no guarantees here and we have to make the best of the time we have. Just like in sailing… You can take the knowledge you have and plot your course, watch for your weather window and plan your voyage. BUT, there are always things beyond your control. This is where the skill kicks in. You have to adapt and make the best of the situation. You can be going along in life and have the wind taken out of your sails or a storm could come up suddenly and you have to prepare for that. You have to keep yourself safe and do what’s best at a moments notice.

So, this leads me to this part of my journey. I love sailing. I love it so much that I gave up most everything to do it. After my two cancer fights, I came to the conclusion that life wasn’t going to wait for me and I needed to take the helm and take back control. I wanted to live life to the fullest and do it while I could. It comes at a price and I have made sacrifices to do it. I feel like I have paid my dues. Now is the time, while I still can move around swiftly and steadily.

This brings me to the next chapter. Our new boat, well, new to us. She is amazing and I can’t wait to share with you all the incredible fun we will have on her.

Check back in the next few weeks to find out about our first big voyage together!

the next chapter: we did it

July 21, 2021

Well, we did it! Endeavor, our new sailboat is in her new port safe and sound.

This next chapter is proving to be exciting and scary all at the same time. Along with learning new ways to live my life, I have also found new friends in a new town. There will be lots of room for growth and time to understand it all better as we get settled. 

What caused this radical change in our lives? Well, first was my health and then quality of life in the time we have. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to live the life we dreamed about. To be in a warm climate on a boat.

In order to do this, we had a lot of work ahead of us. We had to figure out how to scale down and save our pennies to allow me time to have a break from working. We had to get rid of everything that didn’t fit into our new life.

Moving put us in a place that would allow us to do what we wanted all year long. This meant leaving family and friends, places that were special to us and a life we knew and understood. It’s not like we can’t ever go back. We can always go back and visit, but moving made it different. Thank goodness for technology and the ways to keep connected. It is not the same, but pretty darn neat that we can contact each other the same as before. I think I will feel better once we get a visit in to reunite and have that personal interaction. Lots of hugs!

And the final step- we had to buy the boat to make it complete. This complicated process was definitely an eye opener. Neither one of us have had the experience of buying a boat to this level and we learned so much. We feel blessed to have the support we did to make this a little less crazy.

I am aware that my mindset is crucial to the success of everything I do. It is not always a smooth transition, or smooth sailing as we say, but I do what I can. 

We did a lot of stepping out on faith. We did so much in such a short time and I truly believe there was divine intervention to help us reach this part of our journey. And we did it! We are so grateful. 

To clarify, this does not mean I don’t experience bad days or challenges. It means I have found my happy place and can enjoy this time I have. I keep looking forward while enjoying these moments. 

I will continue to get into more detail in future posts of what we had to do to pursue our dreams. Check back for more!