“I want it easy”. It is somewhat my life mantra! The reality? Err. Not so much. I am not someone that has had life fall in my lap. Maybe that is why I want it easy…..because I’m used to working hard and I want a break!
If I like my life to be easy, one might wonder why I don’t make decision’s that may lend themselves to an easier time? The short answer is I value an exciting life and I am willing to work hard for it. I do a lot of dreaming. I am easily inspired to adventure. Someone else’s blog post, a photo on Instagram, looking at a map, talking with others – I am constantly cooking up a ‘plan’ in my head.
Often though, when I move my dream into the realm of reality, I struggle. That’s when things just get hard..jpg)
For 2 weeks, I had been conversing with a guy in Northern BC about buying a boat for our 2nd daughter. I have been dreaming about how awesome it would be to turn her into a white-water paddler, and was excited that I have shown my kids many things in the outdoors and taught them lots of skills but this was new territory. After teaching a myriad of other people to paddle, I was on the verge of teaching my very own daughter.
The little red kayak showed up on the greyhound bus, and my nearly 11-year-old was oh-so-keen to try it out. She has been hoping for a boat for about 3 years. I was teaching her how to put the spray deck on, and as we tugged and wrestled with it I started to get annoyed. “Why do they make these things so tight!?” It took several attempts and several minutes to get it on. Then I got in my boat. Its been nearly 5 years since I paddled it. It’s tightly padded out – like you would expect for white-water, so it’s not comfortable. And then the wrestle with my spray deck too. Grr. Something so minor took the sparkle off my fantasy, and made me wonder if this was even going to be any fun at all. Crazy hey?
I am using this small example to illustrate my huge desire to want everything to be perfect and easy. But I know I’m not alone. I think so many of us struggle to let it go (especially Mum’s) and embrace the decision or moments. Before I had kids none of this bothered me. I was so easy going. Now I feel a little worn and things feel a whole lot harder. But I don’t want to be THAT mom that turns stuff down that would build our family bond and sense of adventure because the scenario is not perfect and I don’t have the perfect stuff to get the job done. My body is only this capable in these years here and now, and more importantly our time to make these memories with our kids is short. We only have a quarter of our lives to be with our kids, impacting them in this unique way, and I don’t want to spend another half of that quarter saying ‘no’ because it it’s too hard.
I often wonder about the things that prevent us from having a full and adventurous life.
- Comforts of home (I love my shower :).
- Lack of ease (It really is harder in the outdoors than at home; I think you have to have a big love else it doesn’t feel worth it).
- Lack of skills, know-how or people to go with.
- Stage of life (preschool years with 3+ children definitely takes some creativity!)
These are a few things that have been true for me. I am curious what your barriers for being more adventurous are? Are they similar of different?
