Adventure worth telling
"Always remember, it simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons." Sarah Ban Breathnach
During Vic's second deployment, I had to have something quick to say to all those who would walk by and say something stupid like "I'm so sorry". I wish I had this quote back then. I'd always reply with "No pressure, no diamonds" or "Someone has to do it" but deep down inside I just wanted it to be a bad dream that I would wake up from. I would find a great quote to frame my day and strive to make it a good one. I was hell bent on not letting the world know how hard that second deployment was and how it scared me to death. Secretly I had a "Suck Factor" rating for each day and I dreamed about using that as my response back to people. It would go something like this; "Hey Pam, how are you doing today? I'm so sorry that Vic is deployed again and everyone else isn't" and I would reply; "No worries, today's suck factor is at an all time high, it is the third straight 10 day in the suck zone, thanks for asking". Kind of like a daily weather report
The truth is that all of the ups and downs of our lives are adventures. Imagine if everything was always easy. We wouldn't know how to appreciate the sunny days without the cloudy ones. Severe circumstances cause us to go beyond where we are comfortable and do things that are extraordinary. Once you have faced the hard times, no matter how many days, weeks, months and years they last, you realize what you are made of. I always say that this isn't the life I drew in third grade. That 9 year old me couldn't imagine that she would have three children, travel the world, send her lover off to war twice and move like a nomad. The life that I live and have lived is so much bigger than the 8x10 piece of drawing paper that I was given in 3rd grade. If I had to draw it again, I'd need a medium that would allow me to portray my life in 3D. There would be plenty of dragons and there would be countless hard days but there would be mountaintops and rainbows and a big sunshine. Isn't THAT an adventure worth telling?
During Vic's second deployment, I had to have something quick to say to all those who would walk by and say something stupid like "I'm so sorry". I wish I had this quote back then. I'd always reply with "No pressure, no diamonds" or "Someone has to do it" but deep down inside I just wanted it to be a bad dream that I would wake up from. I would find a great quote to frame my day and strive to make it a good one. I was hell bent on not letting the world know how hard that second deployment was and how it scared me to death. Secretly I had a "Suck Factor" rating for each day and I dreamed about using that as my response back to people. It would go something like this; "Hey Pam, how are you doing today? I'm so sorry that Vic is deployed again and everyone else isn't" and I would reply; "No worries, today's suck factor is at an all time high, it is the third straight 10 day in the suck zone, thanks for asking". Kind of like a daily weather report
The truth is that all of the ups and downs of our lives are adventures. Imagine if everything was always easy. We wouldn't know how to appreciate the sunny days without the cloudy ones. Severe circumstances cause us to go beyond where we are comfortable and do things that are extraordinary. Once you have faced the hard times, no matter how many days, weeks, months and years they last, you realize what you are made of. I always say that this isn't the life I drew in third grade. That 9 year old me couldn't imagine that she would have three children, travel the world, send her lover off to war twice and move like a nomad. The life that I live and have lived is so much bigger than the 8x10 piece of drawing paper that I was given in 3rd grade. If I had to draw it again, I'd need a medium that would allow me to portray my life in 3D. There would be plenty of dragons and there would be countless hard days but there would be mountaintops and rainbows and a big sunshine. Isn't THAT an adventure worth telling?
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