Back in The Water

She had hung from the rack in the back of our garage for the past few years—untouched by water. Yet this year, on a lazy weekend morning, I asked my husband to help me carry her down the steep riverbank to the river’s edge.

Why I hadn’t been kayaking in so long is a string of stories. First, I was pregnant and too round for narrow opening. Then I was a new mom and too tired to think of it. Before that, I was too busy, complacent or taken with the pursuit of other things. I really don’t remember.

On this day, however, as I pushed off from the shore and felt the quietude that only comes from floating so close to the water, something occurred to me—this was the dream.

When I was a child and our family had rented a rough cabin on a New England lake, I had decided in my heart to someday live in a house on water and have my very own boat. Our home today isn’t fancy and my kayak a long cry from a yacht, but it’s exactly what I had desired for so long—a simple, beautiful dream.

I often find myself focusing on sleepless nights, daily chores or dreams yet to come that I forget to nourish those whose moments of fruition have already passed. The true dream is in how we live with what we have yearned for after it’s already here.

Whether the dream is a partner with whom to share our life journey, work aligned with our spirit, a child, a healthy body, money to pay our bills, or something else entirely—the more mindful and grateful we are of it in the present moment, the greater it becomes.

I believe striving, yearning, pursuit and hope for the future give life great meaning. I also believe living a happy life is about celebrating what we’ve got, long after the victories have been won.

As I gratefully took a stroke of the paddle and eased the kayak out onto the water, I felt a wonderful sense of calm. I am in the dream, and I’m happy I'm here.