This has not been the trip I thought it would be, but so is life. Planning this trip was very exciting, I love change and planning something so life altering energized me. Like I said I always see possibilities and not failures as much- though I will say that the original plan was to take our trailer out West and I was certainly more comfortable with that idea. After I announced to my husband that I was going back to a retreat in Costa Rica for a week and therefore would be watching the kids he smoothly inserted into the conversation that he would like to go sailing instead of our camping trip. He has dreamed of sailing the Caribbean with his sailboat that he's been "working on" for the last 20 years! I was so excited about Costa Rica that I blindly agreed! I was curious to see how it would all work out and we weren't planning on having the dog with us- we thought my in-laws would take him but apparently it was never their intention. Having the dog has added a an extra layer of stress to our voyage. Anyway, this trip has not been what we had intended at all, but I am starting to see the lessons in it. As time will go on I know there will be many more.
The first one is accepting things for what they are, my kids are sick and so it is and actually being grateful when they are healthy or even when they are sick and it's just an ear infection...
The second lesson is humor, finding humor in the chaos, in the times when I am yelling at my kids and want to throw them overboard, wait did I just admit I yell at my kids?! I never yell at them, I am a perfect mom. This leads me to my next lesson, compassion for myself and radical self acceptance. I definitely haven't felt like the best version of myself, my self-care routines have been challenged to say the least, and I certainly feel like I am put to the test daily. So compassion and self-acceptance are work in progress.
The next lesson is human connections, I am craving adult human connections on a deeper level. Being on a tiny island with a bunch of party animals (lots of "woohoos" around here) and I need my deep connections and intimate conversations, that's why I LOVE coaching so much!!!
I will save the rest of the lessons for another day as we are packing up and moving back to the boat. Today is another day, I choose how to write it. WOOHOO!
