This is one that’s not easy to write as it brings up alot of emotions. 3 years ago I lost my Mother to pancreatic cancer. It’s been a rough time since then. 6 months ago I discovered sailing and it’s been one of the best things to happen to me. It’s a huge confidence builder, stress reliever and a huge amount of fun. It’s great exercise as tacking all day singlehanded is a good workout and it gets me outdoors in the sun and in the fresh and clean ocean air. All positives! It’s also one of the only things I have ever done where 100% of my focus is on the task at that moment. I don’t care about work. When the new iPhone is coming out. The bills that jut came in. The interest rates on the credit cards. The brakes that need to be done on the BMW. None of those things come to mind. For those hours on the water I am free. Free from the worlds baggage. 6 months ago I found a blog about a guy sailing with what was diagnosed as terminal cancer. He had gone to homeopathic medicine and began sailing his boat around the world. I was inspired by this. My own fears of leaving the harbor were now minuscule compared to the bravery he had for fighting this on his terms. He also inspired me to look at life differently. To stop and enjoy some of the amazing sights that we are blessed with right in our own neighborhood. I have lived in the Newport Beach area for almost 10 years. Had never been on a boat down here before. Had never seen a dolphin or sea lion and they seem to be everywhere. Never really saw a sunset from the deck of a sailboat. I felt like I had wasted 10 years of my life not seeing such amazing things. People in the inner cities don’t have such luxuries, and I was wasting them. Never again. Now I enjoy every minute and every second I have on the boat. I open my eyes and take in the amazing views. Last week I saw a new blog post on the Sailing With Cancer blog. I thought it was going to be some pictures and a new story about some far off place I have only seen in movies. It wasn’t. It was a message from his wife that he had been hospitalized in Panama and they couldn’t do much so they were sending him back to the US for treatment. His boat was still in Panama and that he needed to sell it to help with his medical bills. Not a good feeling. So if you are reading this blog, take a second and check out his blog:
http://sailingwithcancer.blogspot.com/
There is a Paypal donation area and if you can spare anything, lets see if we can make a difference in someones life as he has made a difference in mine.
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