A nice note from one of my Judys

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a couple of better than average Judys in my life;  one of them wrote this today.

On Sep 4, 2012, at 2:01 PM, Judy C> wrote:

Joey,

You have, in my opinion, learned to live life the way it is supposed to be lived.  I commend you for that as life is quite short in the scheme of things so live it for all it is worth.  My daughter, who is incredibly gifted (art wise)......... (edited by me)........., decided just to quit what she was doing and let the cards fall where they may in her endeavor to find fulfillment.  I know she would love to do something with the performing arts, even in the background, but it is not what you know it is who you know.  Do I worry....sure...but I am also a little enviousl that that ship has sailed for me.  She may go back to school and get her masters, but then again maybe not.  She took a leap of faith which is the only way to get what you want.

Enjoy more adventures Joey!

Judy

That is one of the nicest notes that I've received in a minute or two.

I woke this morning, having finally broken down and used the CPAP machine, feeling rested, and quite honestly, with a much better attitude than of late.  Actually I woke full of "it". (I'll leave "it" to you, dear reader, to decide for yourselves.)

It's been difficult to get back into the swing of work after  2 months of complete freedom but today I felt good, and actually, I had two thoughts (any good day I might have at least one thought) 

A.  while I'm not a homeowner, and certainly not rich, I do manage, by and large, to do what I want, and by my standard at least, that makes me successful.  How many people can say that they drove cross country when and how they wanted too?

B.  I think the 17 year old version of EPPdF would really like the 42 year old version off EPPdF.  That counts for more than you'd think.  

Life seems to move us away from the things that we once found important, and for most of us, that's a good thing, but it also often manages to squash our dreams and visions of how our lives should be run and I think that's not good at all.  I've been dreaming of going cross country for 23 years and if I live to be 90 I'm sure I'll still remember it.  

Most things you dream of when you're 17 aren't nearly as good as they sound on paper but this trip was better and most days I can't really believe that I did it.

I heard a great thing about following your passions on The Carolla Podcast the other day:

A.  Most people who are really successful are successful b/c they worked their butts off to be there.

B.  People who did great things, ie following their dreams did so b/c it didn't feel like work - they were enjoying what they were doing and just kept doing it and after a very long time of essentially doing it for free, the hard work paid off

C.  There's a version of your dream that maybe you can afford to do now or soon with a little planning.

Maybe you can't make do NASCAR but maybe you can afford to race a used Miata at the local track and it might be more fun than you think and certainly more fun than doing nothing at all.

So what's to lose?

I said before I left, "If I'm not enjoying myself, if it's too hot, or too hard, or too whatever, I'll ship the bike home and fly to San Francisco."  And, it was hard, and it was hot, and there were moments that sucked (122 degrees leaving Vegas, breaking down near Ft. Stockton (twice)) but it was worth it too and I'm glad I did it and can't wait to do it again.  

I'll get hard bags for the bike next time though.  Saddlebags suck on a long ride.