May 7--Destination, NE Ohio

Inside myself is a place where I live all alone. That's where you renew your springs that never dry up.  --Pearl S. Buck

    So here I am on a solo road trip. I'm definitely hanging in the "place where I live all alone." Yesterday (Thursday) I drove ~540 miles from Wichita to Effingham, Illinois (with plenty of Effing-beans, Effing-turkey, etc. jokes). It was an easy drive supported by a very good audio book. No sooner had I checked into my Quality Inn room than the tornado sirens went off. The huge black cloud blew by, and it was sunny within an hour. 

    I spent some time figuring out where I could lap swim today (Friday) to give my body a break from so much driving. Lap swimming definitely "renews my springs that never dry up." I discovered that the pool where I had hoped to swim in Effingham is closed for maintenance. So I switched to a YMCA in Dayton, which will break today's drive basically in half. Calling for information, I learned that because of Covid, I had to reserve a time to lap swim. That's a new wrinkle, but for safety for all, I'm on board. I also had to compensate for the fact that I lose an hour in the drive there, going from the central time zone to eastern. 

    I am enjoying this time alone. While I'm not crazy about driving, I do love traveling. I am excited to see relatives this weekend that I have not seen in almost two years. This trip will bring much renewal--family relationships, friendships, visiting the area where I grew up--the return to my roots feels so good! 

    Stay tuned,

        Leta

May 6--On the Road Again

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--but not absence of fear. 
--Mark Twain

    Today I set out on my road trip. I've had a "trip check" done on my car. I've loaded up everything I could possibly need for a two-week trip, as long as relatives will let me do some laundry. 😉😉 I have the most important thing--golf clubs. And I confess, I'm taking a bit of fear with me. It's just a tiny bit related to heading off into the unknown. Weather? Road conditions? Pandemic issues? Missing home, husband and dog, for sure. I could make myself crazy worrying, or remember that I have done this very thing many times, and it is going to be ginormous FUN! I am returning to the state where I grew up--its magnificent beauty holds a special place in my heart. I shall use my courage to sally forth and have a great adventure. 

    Stay tuned...

        Leta

May 5--N.C.W.

With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.  --Margaret Mitchell

    Humorous motivational speaker and musician, Greg Tamblyn, refers to himself with the initials N.C.W. That stands for "No Credentials Whatsoever." 

    A reputation is what others think a person to be. It can be good or bad, depending on the onlooker. It is based on what others perceive to be one's character, beliefs and deeds. It seems to me that the reputation may or may not match the actual person. 

    This quote says to me that one does not need a lofty reputation to accomplish any given desire. All one needs is the courage to take the "baby steps" needed to achieve a goal. It doesn't matter what a person's past history is--it is the effort moving forward that counts. 

    For some reason unknown to me, "reputation" tends to be a mostly negative word, and a bad reputation could certainly be a hindrance to accomplishment. Conversely, a good reputation could smooth the path to achieving a mission. Ms. Mitchell indicates that any reputation is irrelevant if you are courageous enough. History has proven this over and over with relative "nobodies" creating great things. Once again... we just do it!

        Leta

May 4--Sailing through Storms

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship.  --Louisa May Alcott

    That's life--a constant learning of how to sail through the storms. I live in Kansas, which, as it turns out, is an exciting place for meteorologists, because the weather is so interesting and can change very suddenly in a very short time. Being prairie land, there is an enormous amount of sky to watch storms roll in. Just like life, some storms are mild and some leave a wide path of destruction. Despite the Wizard of Oz mythology, I've lived here almost 40 years and have never seen a tornado. I have, however, seen the destruction one creates, and it is mind-boggling. 

    Alas, we probably learn more from the storms of our lives than we do from the peaceful times. They force us to bring forth our determination and resilience. Each storm survived builds confidence for handling the next one. Note that storms are a natural, organic part of life on our magnificent earth. I can't imagine a place where storms of some form don't happen. Let us remember that, in Kansas at least, storms bring much-needed rain. They serve a purpose both in our planet's atmosphere and in our lives. Life storms and weather storms keep things interesting!

    Sailing through today,

        Leta

May 3--Adventure Ready!

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.  --Helen Keller

    Hmmmm... let's consider this in light of the pandemic. I just wasn't daring enough to submit myself to outright exposure. I spent many months avoiding the danger of the virus. I learned new ways to enjoy my time other than being out and about in the world. None of that was bad. But too much of it has eventually come to feel like "nothing." I'm ready to get out and adventure, to experience the "outside world" again. 

    To that end, I leave later this week on a two-week solo driving trip to visit assorted family and friends. I'm excited to see folks I haven't seen in many, many months. I have plans to visit various YMCAs to swim, to relieve my body from the tedious position of driving. I have an extra-big adventure planned as part of the trip. I'm holding that secret so that I can lure you into reading about the whole adventure, just to see what's up. 😉😉  I do plan to sensibly "avoid danger," taking appropriate precautions Covid-wise and following each state's guidelines. I'll be a good mask-wearer. 

    I was blessed with a mother who loved to travel, and she took me along on her international adventures. I'm so grateful for the "travel bug" she planted in me. Our magnificent planet is too beautiful and the differing cultures too amazing to confine oneself to a tiny area and never check out the rest of the world. Each one of us is braver than we think. 

    Let's go!

        Leta

May 2--That Difficult Task?

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.  --Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

    The Nike Company summed this up in "just do it." If we sit around and use our magic magnifying minds to consider how difficult a task will be, we are very likely to talk ourselves out of it. On a rather mundane level, I do this with cleaning on a regular basis. I fuss to myself about how I dislike cleaning, how much of my precious time it takes, on and on. If I just dive in and do it, it's doesn't kill me, and I like the results. (This transpired yesterday, actually.) 

    I can come up with quite a long list of things that seemed difficult until I actually did them: completing grad school a long way from home; moving to Kansas; being married to the same person for decades; birthing and raising children; several job and career changes; yoga training; golfing; international travel; long solo driving trips; doing tax returns; having a hip joint replaced. The one I must comment on further is painting. Yes, painting. It seemed thoroughly impossible, far too difficult, for me to paint anything. "Real artists" did that. Then I dared sign up for a painting class and discovered that I can paint, and it isn't difficult. It's just a matter of finding what form of painting "floats your boat." I personally like straight lines (see one of my creations below), which may seem difficult, but I'll tell you the secret: Green Frog tape. 

    Enjoying the adventure of life,

        Leta

"11:11"

May 1--Courage

All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.  --Frank L. Baum

    I'm not sure we humans realize how afraid we actually are. Fear masks itself in so many ways--anger, jealousy, envy, violence, abuse, addiction, on and on. I distinctly remember one of my first 12-Step meetings wherein the leader was talking about fear. I thought, "Geez, what a wuss, I'm glad I'm not afraid of all that." Little did I know! I had all those fears and even a few more, which I uncovered once I stopped burying them with food. 

    There are literally an infinite number of things to fear in this life, and fear can paralyze us if we allow it to do so. That's where courage comes in. We do the next thing in front of us, keep moving, and build confidence in our ability to make it through scary circumstances. 

    As Baum says, every living thing is afraid at some point. It is not a personal failure to be afraid. Viewed as an opportunity to strengthen our "resilience muscles," we can conquer fear and bring more confidence into our next fearful episode. I'm not sure we humans realize how courageous we actually are. 😉😉

    Confidently facing today,

        Leta