Inspiration from a Pirate

Do you ever feel like you tend to play it safe? Not take risks? Not put yourself out there? I'm not talking about free climbing or swimming with sharks, necessarily, but maybe for someone out there, it's a dream put on hold. It could be something as simple as not taking risks professionally, or not doing things we enjoy because of anxiety. My good friends, Jennifer and David Smith, owners of David Christopher's in Sheffield, took a trip to the UK at the end of the school year. They saw an archway that inspired them to make a beautiful wreath similar to the colors/themes in the arch. When they posted the finished product on Facebook along with a caption explaining where they'd gotten the inspiration, I commented that I believed the hallmark of a great trip or cultural experience was inspiration. My last beach trip inspired two blog posts. Here's the second. On our last beach trip, I had let fear kind of hold me back from enjoying the water. Note: This was before all the recent shark attacks in the gulf coast region, and I'm definitely not making light of that horrible situation. I was playing it safe, sitting in my chair, getting in ankle deep, etc. On our last day, I had spent the entire afternoon, and even got some alone time on the beach. I used to always love to walk on the beach, and I'm not sure why I hadn't been doing so. As I sat in my chair that day, and pulled my book out, anticipating getting lost in it while listening to the sounds of the waves, I realized I had forgotten my reading glasses in the condo. I was not walking all the way back, so I just kept refocusing and willing myself to see better. I got really cracked up at myself, and sitting there in my chair, giggling at my own absurdity, got me even more tickled. I was reading Jimmy Buffett's A Pirate Looks at 50. He lived a very adventurous life, and the irony of me squinting at my book, from the safety of my chair and umbrella did not escape me. Which, you guessed it, made me laugh even more. All of a sudden, I packed the book away, took my hat off that had been sheilding me from the sun, and walked out into the gulf. I played, jumped waves, and let them go over my head I enjoyed the warm sun drying the wet droplets from my body; I walked down the beach and stopped to talk to people who were fishing. One guy offered to help Sam, so when he came down there, I sat on his wife's towel with her and we talked like old friends. I do realize that I wasn't jumping out of an airplane or anything like that, but I was living. Sometimes as adults, and moms especially, we are just so buy doing all the things that have to be done, that we don't stop to smell the salt water. Think back to yourself: When is the last time you played? Laughed at something stupid? Struck up a conversation with a stranger? Submerged yourself in the ocean? Gulf, sea, whatever. In the midst of all the doing, don't forget to live. Set an example for your kids of truly living and being present.