I woke up this morning at 4 am, took a shower, made a few final preparations, and headed for the garage where I spent most of last night adjusting the packing arrangement on my motorcycle. The weather was clear and temperate when I went to bed, but as I opened the garage door a mere four hours later to depart I was greeted with a ten degree drop, a brisk wind, and a constant drizzle. Adversity, I thought. You have to push through.
I planned this journey – a tour of the entire Florida Coast including stops in Jacksonville, Port St. Lucie, West Palm, Miami, Key West, Tampa, and Panama City – as a method of collecting my thoughts and tracking down some inner peace as I enter my 39th year. I had put the trip off a day already and I had to be in West Palm in 36 hours for a family wedding rehearsal dinner. I couldn’t wait any longer. I bundled up and rolled into the mess.
One hundred miles down a lonely, rain-swept county road, I pulled into a McDonald’s. Welcome to Dawson, Georgia a sign read as I dismounted and stumbled into the lounge a stiff, shaking mess. I couldn’t feel my hands and the rain streaming off my jacket had started dripping under my waistline and down my legs. I ordered coffee and a biscuit, disrobed my top layer, and sat down sore and exhausted. I planned on waiting a little while to see what happened with the weather, but even then I knew what I had to do. Once I had the dexterity back in my fingers to manipulate my phone, I booked a flight leaving tomorrow for West Palm.
I was defeated and disappointed in Dawson. But during my frigid ride home I realized that Dawson was where I lost a battle, not the war. The War, in my mind, is a constant struggle to keep a life with choices. Last week a friend of mine learned that someone close to her has cancer. Another reminder of how fragile life is. This is why living life with choices is so important to me.
I may not have succeeded on my trip, but I gave it a shot. And getting out and living is half the battle. Be present today.
“There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday.” – Robert Nathan
