Freebird

Good morning and Hello again from Home Sweet Home in P-Town :)

What a strange feeling I’m having actually being home. Woke up in my own bed and didn’t know where I was!

I think that is a jewel of a moment that I should treasure :) Really, how often would that happen without total disconnect that takes time and distance?

A late start at Nick’s apartment in Aggieville was the beginning of the final few miles to home…

Still staying off of the Interstate, Rox and I went back through Council Grove – seems like we were here before :)

Good ‘Ol Kansas scenery, can’t beat it!

Pulling into Ottawa, I started the process of snapping back to reality… kinda :)

Familiar Places and seeing people I’ve known for years, driving down the street…

A HOT Day here, Guess I’ve missed out on the worst of the heat… Ooops!

Ahh, Princeton! Just as Sweet as I remembered!

Yup, still here!

The Troop is back home in the drive :)

An afternoon of reflection and unpacking, very unusual to be still for hours at a time :)

Cleaned up, Rox and I load up to head to Mom’s to get ‘Ol Girl Morgan and say hello.

Again strangeness – With the truck empty it was a “Naked Driving” feel…

What a Reunion! – These Two Missed Each Other!!

Morgan is as old as the Bristlecones out in Cali – so she stayed home, but was glad we are back!

Mom and Joe and I talked awhile and filled in some questions from the trip, along with other stuff… It was nice :)

To really get the feeling of being home, I pedaled up to the Brandin’ Iron and happened to run into Robert… “Where the hell ya’ been boy! I thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth!” – Well kinda??

Let’s discuss for a moment that “Fall”… I would rather call it a “Leap” and more of the backstory is here…

Back in January, on our annual Ski Trip to the Rockies – I took my first proffesionally instructed (a’hem! RUSKIN!) ski lesson… Obviously getting down the mountain in the best way possible is to master the Turn… something I had yet to perfect. Two things happened on that day that changed my thinking forever.

The Instructor explained that the first step to a great ski turn is to point your eyes, head and shoulders down the hill… If you properly do this – IT WILL BE SCARY!! You are doing the unnatural. Your body tells you this is unsafe and you Will Crash! You are leaning out where your lower body is not there to support you… This is the exact moment that I realized how Faith works… By doing the unnatural, by trusting in these instructions, by GOD, did my legs, feet and skis end up Exactly where they were supposed to be!! It’s true, go try it! The turns flowed flawlessly without Overthinking everything or purposely moving this leg here, that ankle there…

The secret was so simple and yet the exact Opposite of the way our minds are built to think…

Also on this day, a fun pair of ladies were in my class and on the lift we talked and laughed… One says “You know how you get comfortable with turning only one way, then once you get to the edge of the run, you are out of room to make your comfortable Right Hand Turn??” I had been there many times :) She went on… “Once I had this issue, my friends were down below waiting on me and when I slowly got to the side of the run, I was So Stuck! One of my friends yelled up at me… ‘JUST MAKE THE FRICKIN TURN!!’- She said from that moment on she had to pop out of the comfort zone and JUST MAKE THE FRICKIN TURN! Of course, she had the skills already and once she made up her mind to DO IT, the turns worked out just fine…

These ideas have played a huge part in the last few months for me. They were integral focus points on this trip as well… It was time for a leap of faith in my life. Overthinking and trying to manuever life on my own is hard and trying to figure out each detail is exhausting… A moment of faith. The knowing that somehow, If I leaned out, then things would work out… Priceless Advice!!

Also, the DOING of it is the key. How else does it happen?? Just Make the Frickin Turn. Then we find that things fall into place, but WE have to break that mindgame of “What If’s” wide open.

Out on the Road, I did become a Do’er and not a Think’er… Waaaay too long I’ve been a Thinker, Analyzer and Judger of What If’s… Out there, your ONLY motion is Forward. Time after Time, I found that just moving forward is how the problem or puzzle was solved. No answers, just motion. The answer comes when you’ve shown up in the right place at the right time and the only way to get there is to move Forward…

Thinking back to the travels there are so many serendipitous moments, I can’t even count them! This is the force of the supernatural at work, in real life, in my life and I hope you’ve enjoyed the sharing of that here on this blog.

I do have an itch to load the truck up right now and continue… I will take my lessons from the Bristlecones and know that time will come for more travel, more adventure. For now, I continue moving forward with True North Financial Fitness Coaching. I’m passionate about helping people understand their financial situation and a true believer in the quote “If you’ll live like no one else, Later, you’ll get to live like no one else!!”

Thank You to each person who has read these words. Without the reader, the writing means nothing. I’m touched that the stories are shared and thoughts of love have spread to people I love and hurt for at the same time. Thank YOU So Much!

More photos, maybe more commentary are still to come… This Shell and Stone Story has not Ended Yet!

- A

Get your lighters out and hold ‘em high!

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One Response to Freebird

  1. Trudy says:

    You are such an inspiration A-Man! :) I love your words and will read them over and over as I prepare to take a little leap of faith myself.

    thank you.
    ~Trudy