Recently I was reminded of when I did a bad ass thing. Many of you are coming from Facebook and already know, but I must assume someday I will find readers that don’t know me personally. So today I am going to tell you the story of the time I took my 10 year old son and we went to Yellowstone by ourselves. I live in Washington near the Canadian boarder, so this was quite the jaunt. My son has autism and can not talk. This may put off some people from the attempt, but not me. I tried to get someone to go with me, but nothing ever panned out.
It was a freak thing. I came into a bit of money, and knew I needed to make an epic adventure happen. I had seen photos of the mineral pools at Yellowstone and knew I needed to see these before I died. I also want to hike Machu Pichu before I die. But that will have to be another story.
So the point of this story isn’t the amazing sites that I saw, or the elevation gain that caused me to live in constant state of euphoric bliss the whole time I was there. The point of this story is I did something transformational despite the odds stacked against me. If something were to happen to me there was no one I could call on to help with my son. He was ten at the time, and not as socialized as he is now. There would have been bedlam and chaos if I had fallen like I did on that zipline. I took precautions and got AAA, got a guide book, checked in with family members every night. I took a calculated risk and was rewarded by an amazing experience that I wish I could relive again. And one day I am sure we will.
Now at the time I didn’t realize the magnitude of what I was doing, but hindsight is like that! It wasn’t until recently when a fellow single mother was talking about being nervous taking her young daughter camping alone that this trip even came to mind. To me, I saw the influx of cash as an opportunity to do something that normally would be out of reach. I didn’t think about the risk, only of the reward. It was in this conversation that I realized that not everyone thinks like I do. That is probably a good thing, but in situations like the one I found myself, I am glad I am not a meek or timid individual by nature. Not to say that those characteristics are bad, but they don’t serve a person well when it comes to living the life you dream of.
Now the focus of this blog is going to be my journey toward health, but I hope to give something to you the reader in exchange for your time. I want to encourage you to do the things you think may be impossible. While I have had plenty of nay sayer’s in my life, for the most part I have been blessed with people the continue to support and uplift me. I have had a very ‘eclectic’ life, and have walked many paths, but the one thing that has been a constant is the love and support I have been given by family, friends, even employers at times.
Maybe you aren’t so lucky. Maybe you are but you can’t see it in your life right now (been there). Maybe you just need another voice cheering you on, and I want to be that for you. I need to be that person in order to pay back all that has been given me.
All of this culminates into what is called an offering, usually something you buy. Problem with that is I am not so good at selling. But I do want you to buy something, I want you to buy into your dreams, your hopes. I want you to believe in yourself again and accomplish something fan fucking tastic.
In fact, it is not just you that I need to convince, I need to be reminded of the innate strength and perseverance that is hidden deep inside of me. I have let things go, I have let the light dim inside of me. It is going to take super human shit to lose 100 pounds, but damn it, it will do it. And I hope you come along with me and uncover your own power. I am going to become the person I dreamed of when I was sixteen. Won’t you join me?