LOST

Searching for that silver lining

Where is hope? I hear so many of the people I love wonder where hope is. I am a positive person. I love light, I love joy, I love people. I love spreading sunshine. But I see that hope is getting harder to find. It's definitely not on the news or in the streets of rioting towns. It's not in Olympic doping scandals or plagiarism theories, or presidential candidates. It's not in human selfishness. It's not in corporate ladder climbing. It's not even in the ways humans feel they have to interject themselves into EVERY situation they see...just because they can.

 

Not okay. Leave the poor baby alone!

Hope is elusive these days. I don't remember the last time I saw the flag waving when it wasn't at half-mast. Fires, flooding, hysteria, speculation, division, finger-pointing....my heart just can't take it sometimes.

Last night I, like an idiot, turned on the news. I felt myself sinking into despair faster than an elephant in quicksand. Honestly I was looking for a little hope to grab onto with all the political nonsense in our country...a positive, happy direction. Not so much.

Then I got on Facebook. I know, I know...really? Like that would make me feel better? Guess what? It did. This was the first thing on my feed:

My unsuspecting friend changed the whole course of my thought process...(yesterday, more than once)...right on Facebook. It was an inspired move. It took me from the fearful, anxious, worried and not so positive road I had started to head down and immediately had me looking for good again. Silver linings, happy endings, kind deeds, all that feel-good stuff. I'm finding hope.

Hope is in the sun coming up. Hope is in spending 4 days with family you haven't seen for 6 years, and having your heart hurt when it's time to leave them because you'll miss them so much.

Hope is in a wise daughter talking eternal principles with you for hours on end. Hope is seeing said daughter take friendship into her own hands and spreading the love you have taught her to give. Hope is having your other daughter continually bring up the goodness in others, and sharing her lightness of spirit with the world.  Hope is finding friends that you thought were lost forever.

Hope is having another wonderful friend with a huge heart reach out as a beacon of hope with a message for all:

Hope is a good Samaritan...or two, or more.

Hope is knowing there is always someone out there who understands what you are going through, and will listen to you-anytime, anywhere.  Hope is knowing there are new beginnings. Hope is knowing the past is behind you but it can help you build a future. Hope is knowing that you are loved regardless of that past.

Hope is a fresh, sweet strawberry. Hope is a passport in the mail. Hope is the promise of going to a movie. It's knowing there are miracles. It's knowing someone loves you.

I love my peeps. I love my life. I love finding hope. I am grateful!

SHOCKING (I know!)

I did something so completely out of character today. I'm still shaking from it. Most of my shaking is from excitement, but I am still in shock just a bit. Today I was brave.


Our excitement for the day-checking out which lounger is the most plush.





I love adventure. I love trying new things. I am almost always happy after trying something new. But getting the nerve to do said new thing is something else entirely. I am more apt to try something new if I have a good plan and know what to expect. I like familiarity. I like parameters. As much as I tease Chad for all his research, I like to do a little myself when I am doing something new. That being said, too much information sends me into overload. When I had heart surgery, Chad spent hours learning about every detail of my procedure. I just needed basics. Basically I needed to know where they were going in, what they needed to do to my heart, and the expected outcome. Anything beyond that gave me anxiety. But that's another story...


For the past 6 months I have had a new obsession, and a nerdy one at that. I am a plane watcher. There is a little island called St. Maartin over in the South Eastern Caribbean. On the Dutch side of the island  is the Princess Julianna Airport. It has an unusually short runway, making the landing of planes quite a spectacle. I discovered a webcam there and I have been watching planes land ever since. My favorites are the 747s. When those huge beasts come in for a landing, it looks like they are going to scrape half the beach and its inhabitants with it. It's incredible to watch those planes bumble in so low and then somehow regain grace while screeching to an abrupt halt before the end of the runway. I can't get over it. I'm embarrassed at how many times I have been caught ogling the webcam.

http://mahobeachcam.com/

I have told my family (and pretty much anyone else that will listen) that my number one must have bucket list item is to be on that beach when a 747 lands. We've said someday we'll go.

On Sunday I found out that this fall the 747 landings will be suspended. I cried.

Then my wonderful Chad said, "Heather, this is your only must do bucket list item. Maybe you ought to see if there's any way we could swing it."  Keep in mind we are planning a cruise next summer after Meghan graduates. But I checked (mostly my bank account). I looked, then I booked. Yes, me, I booked. I pushed that little green "Complete Purchase" button. We're going.

YES, WE ARE GOING! In 6 weeks! With hardly a plan and only a little information. Literally flying by the seats of our pants in a whirlwind trip of flying for two straight days (to and from) to be there for one big whopper of a 747 landing and the realized dreams of a nervous little girl in Utah. I am so excited I can hardly breathe when I think about it. I'm going to go LIVE. This time I'm not waiting for life to hand me something great. I'm going to go get it. I'm taking my family with me. And I'm grateful.