Woolsey Life

It was a fun one, I turned 30 for those that might not have realized.  Christy took me on a 2 hour sailing lesson in Coronado.  On the way over the bridge I saw some sailboats and I mentioned that “someday I want to learn to sail”.  She smiled and said, “Someday…”  I didn’t realize that was what we were doing but it was satisfying for her to tell that I had no idea what we were doing yet.  Christy wanted to take more pictures but the instructor put her to work manning the lines for the forward sail (don’t quote me on terms, I didn’t pay enough attention to that part).  After a while he showed me how to handle both sails and the rudder and Christy got to finally sit back and enjoy the breeze and the quietness of having no engine.  Here are some pictures:

Some of my friends that have turned 30 took that time to reflect on their accomplishments and unfortunately the lack there-of as they saw it.  I never really understood it - after all is turning 30 really that big of a deal?  I think it kind of is.  You are saying goodbye to your 20’s.  A lot of firsts happened in your 20’s and now you are moving into a decade that will hopefully prove to be refinement of the things you first learned in your 20’s.  My dad likes to remind me that my 30’s will blow by before I know it and I will be 40.  I figure thats just incentive to soak it all up.

All in all, turning 30 just doesn’t compare when it is happening at the same time Christy is pregnant with our first child.  Really, in the face of that, could you get spun out about anything less?

For our 6th anniversary Christy and I went to Palm Springs.  It wasn’t because there was anything particularly awesome to do there, we just wanted to get away for a day or two without spending a lot of money.  The biggest highlight was taking the tram up to the top of the mountain and stomping around in a different world above the desert floor.  Christy is pregnant after all and stomping around isn’t the same these days as it used to be, but it was fun.  After a while we made our way back to the mountain station and grabbed a bench in the shade and watched people go by for about an hour.

As we watched one person really grabbed my attention.  She was so determined to do the hard thing - I could tell.  She didn’t want to remain unchallenged her whole life and was not going to let an obstacle stop her.  If I were to guess I would say she was about 2.  She was at the bottom of a long set of stairs and she was working hard to climb them on her own.  Her dad was patient with her for a while but then grabbed her to carry her the rest of the way.  She passionately objected to this and I could see why -

She wasn’t content to stay where she was.  She was determined to grow, to meet the challenge before her and overcome it.  She wanted to do the hard thing.  What a great quality we have when we are 2.  We have a DRIVE to push ourselves beyond what we can do and aren’t easy scared if its too hard.  I think any parent can testify to the fact that kids are pretty determined to ‘do it themselves’.

I don’t have any little ones in the outside world yet, so I can have objective perspectives on 2 year olds.  And I have to say that I really appreciate their drive.  What if we all had that drive still.  The drive to press on even when its hard - to do the hard thing because its hard.  What if we pursued our spiritual lives with such ambition.

Wow, wouldn’t that be cool!