Changes in Attitude

Change is inevitable! How many times have we heard those words? But it is so true. Seasons change from Spring to Summer, round and round it goes.... the babies that we hold today, will be graduating college and starting their own lives tomorrow.
That is how life works, it grows, it changes and leaves us with little to no say so in the matter. Sometimes, it is a wonderful discovery of an adventure that we could not have ever envisioned on our own. We happen upon new friends in a small marina on a Bahamian Island, we go into a general store on another little cay and meet four people from a place in the world where I have only read about online.... those crazy encounters that seem so innocuous to our lives, change us in ways that we cannot put into words.
Our lives are changed, my life HAS been changed forever.

Chris, Summer, Sam, Noah, Marita, Curry, Holli and John were just names this time last year, but now they are my friends! Each one has a place in my heart and I cannot imagine life without them in it. Sometimes, however, change comes into our lives and rips out our heart while it still beats. This time last year, I was a Mimi and because Ray's sons have decided that I am no longer worthy of their love, they have stripped that title from me. Ray and I have had our hearts handed to us on a plate and though it hurts, we continue on.

How amazing that in one year, change can bring so much love and happiness and so much sorrow. That is life though.... good and bad, happy and sad, dull and on top of the world! Its a heartbeat with it's ups and downs..... without it, we would flat-line. I choose life, change and all....

This year, Ray and I will not be sailing for our islands, instead we will be "sauntering" through the United States in our little camper. John Muir, the most wonderful naturalist and visionary for our forests and mountains, shared a beautiful insight: "Hiking, I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains, not hike! It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages, people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when other people in the villages through which they passes asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre" to the Holy Land. So they became known as Sainte-terre-ers... Saunterers. These mountains are our Holy Land and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not "hike" through them.

The change this year is in a different mode of transportation... our camper, Saunter, instead of our sailboat, Nu Trix. We are trading the sea for the open road, but we are not changing the adventure that calls us. We have never taken on such a trip and truly do not know what to expect. We could have the euphoria of meeting new friends in some out of the way forest or mountain vista, or we could have tragedy strike and steal our hearts. Change will come, new days will dawn and the sun will set on happiness or sadness. I have found this past year that it is all in my attitude. I cannot dictate that ebb and flow of life, but as in sailing, I can adjust my sails.... and in camping, I can pull over, put out the awning and pour a glass of wine. Attitude says that I can find my smile even when tears are flowing... attitude says that I can hold out in the downpour for the sun that will eventually come out again.... attitude says that I can find strength in my soulmate, Ray when I am so weak that I cannot breath on my own.... Attitude changes is what keeps us going when life changes.

So when you see my posts and pictures this year, and you will.... know that the life that I have isn't perfect and isn't without heartbreak, but I would not want it any other way. I have grown in love and understanding throughout everything that this life has thrown at me and until my last breath, I will continue on..... sauntering!!!