I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this absolutely beautiful Friday afternoon! It is hot & steamy on the Gulf Coast however beautiful none the less.
My goodness, it has been quite a while since my last Happy Friday! It has been good though. While I felt the pull in my heart of writing Happy Friday, I knew - in the deepest recesses of my heart - that the best thing I could be doing is...nothing. This is my message for us today.
The last 13 months have been kinda crazy, busy...I don't know of the proper adjective to capture it. During this time:
- I made the decision to leave a place my family & I love for a new adventure.
- I packed our house in Arizona, had a garage sale, loaded two moving trucks (we still have too much stuff!), drove 1,200 miles to our new home pulling a Tahoe, unpacked half of our stuff into our apartment and the other half into a storage unit. All that by the way was my "vacation" last year.
- 6 weeks later we drove our oldest Tender Warrior 23 hours to college, got him unpacked and then drove back.
- My father-in-law had a heart attack.
- My mother-in-law had triple bypass surgery.
- On January 1st my Mom's husband passed away.
- In the middle of February we moved out of our apartment into our beautiful home.
- On April 2nd my Mom passed away.
- And amongst all of this stuff, I took somewhere between 12 - 14, week long business trips for my job.
So the Haslam's went on vacation...a real, honest to goodness, vacation. We drove from our home to San Antonio where we went to the Alamo (fascinating), Sea World (loved it all - opened & closed the place down!) & Six Flags (Kev can hang with the Fellas on all the roller coasters!). We then drove a day to El Paso and that evening went and watched a Triple A baseball game...the El Paso Chihuahuas vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes (brought back great memories of attending Tucson Toro's games with my Grandpa). The next day we drove the rest of the way to Arizona, checked into our resort and then, for the next 7 days, did nothing but float in the lazy river, play volleyball & basketball in the pool, went down some amazing water slides and spent time together, with family & friends. Oh yeah, and we golfed one day too! I also had the privilege of taking my Beautiful Bride on a date one night...we went out to dinner, walked around a mall for a couple of hours and then sat & visited for a few more hours...it was glorious!
A few things to share from the heart:
1. Driving with your spouse/partner and kids in a car for 16 hours each way is awesome! I read something, somewhere - how is that for specific! - that attributed the breakdown in the American family to less vacations by car. Did we have fights? Yes. Did we argue? Sure. Was it long and monotonous? Yep. But here is the thing; we were together, we talked and we all reconnected. Sure we have disagreements, we get tired & some (Kath & the boys but certainly not me! :) ) get grumpy but that's life. When you are stuck in a car together you don't really have much choice but to get it all worked out. What are you gonna do? Not talk for the next 15, 14 or 13 hours? Nope, you are going to figure a way to make it all work together...you have no choice, and that is awesome.
2. Be present. This is, in part, why I did not take the time over the course of the past few weeks to write Happy Friday. I would really have liked to however I chose to spend time with Kath & the boys, to be fully present. I would have really liked to check & get caught up on my work emails - I took my work computer on the trip, however I chose to spend time with Kath & the boys, to be fully present. When we went to my in-laws each night, I chose to be there, fully present. When we went to dinner with friends, I chose to be there, fully present. When I played volleyball with Landry in the pool for hours on end (trust me, I am not exaggerating!), I chose to be there, fully present. When I was getting ready for a date with the most beautiful woman in the world to me I got an unpleasant phone call - I chose, and with some help...o.k., a lot of help, from God, I chose to be there, fully present with my Bride. And as I chose, in each and every moment of each and every day, to be fully present I felt strength returning - to me, to my relationships and I saw those I am called to love, protect & lead grow & flourish too. It is a blessing, not only to you but to those with whom you are with, to be fully present.
3. You know what is funny? We were busy, I mean really busy. When we got to San Antonio we drove straight down to the River Walk, ate dinner, walked to the Alamo and then walked up & down the full length of the River Walk. When we went to Sea World we were literally there when the gates opened and we left after the last Shamu show of the night, when Sea World closed. When we were at the resort, I woke up, read, went and did a workout, came back to the room to get my Beautiful Bride & Tender Warriors and then played at the pool all day, until it was time for dinner. You know how many naps I took while on vacation? Zero! I was not tired, I was energized. I loved and cherished each and every moment. It was so refreshing and I felt so very blessed.
So Friends, I share this all with you to encourage you to take a moment - however long that might mean to you - and get your battery recharged. Life can be hard, it comes at us fast. Sometimes we are so busy we feel we barely have time to breath however that is exactly what we need to do...breath & relax. And I am serious, if you have a family I really want to encourage you to get in a car with them and drive somewhere, anywhere. It really isn't about the destination, it is about the journey. Please don't plug in some movie to "keep the kids busy," keep them busy by talking to them. Make time, choose, to be fully present. I promise you it will not only bless your life but also the lives of those you are privileged to do life with.
I am not sure I am going to write Happy Friday's on Friday any more, it is one of the things I have really thought about over the past few weeks. I think I am going to write it on Saturday's, when I have more time, when it doesn't all have to be a grind. I also decided this week to sleep for an extra 30 minutes per night...might not sound like much however it is an extra 2 1/2 hours of sleep per week. See, another advantage to recharging; you have the time to reflect, make adjustments. Life is a journey Friends...let's make sure we are enjoying it!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for any of you. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev