Days 61 and 62 August 25&26, 2001
Put on some miles today, stopped at a campground, and put up my “cabana” (an open sided tent). I love my cabana. In storms I cover it with a very large sheet of blue plastic and it becomes a waterproof shelter, dark and cozy like a cave. I lit a candle, made coffee on my gas stove, and sat in its opening just beyond the raindrops with a book. It’s a rainy day today but a good day. “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.”
The journal and the journey are not done yet. I’m taking a step back on this page and recording some thoughts about just how incredible this odessey has been. This trip has been an outstanding feat and I do have a lot of courage. Maybe there is nothing to be afraid of. Can I take this courage and apply it to my life back home? Can I take my faith and have it be an all encompassing power that will come to my assistance 24-7? I hope so because I believe that when I’m in this state of balance, I’m filled with joy and light. I feel it when I’m teaching my students or when I make a connection with people. I want to expand this feeling to my dream of being a writer. I know I will have to be even stronger because I will be criticized. I read somewhere that if we listen to our intuition and our hearts they will reveal to us what needs to done next. I’m ready to take the risks. I am ready to take more steps and, as I do, my faith in the process can only become more intense. The words and the wisdom will come.
I took this journey not knowing if it would turn out okay. (Or maybe in my heart, I did). Something tells me that the journey ahead will be okay, too. I have known adversity and I understand its function because it propels me forward. “Be not afraid”, I now whisper to myself. The promise has been made. Even in the “shadow of the valley of death”, I will be protected and even when I fall I will get up, bounce up. And as I do, I will learn the lessons. Everything is going to be okay. Be a survivor, I will tell myself, and, for heaven’s sake, don’t be afraid to thrive.
Copyright 2018@The Autonomous Traveler
The Autonomous Traveler 
Great revelations about yourself and your journey. I must say that surviving alone with 2 teenagers after a divorce also taught me ‘not to be afraid’ that somehow things will turn out ok. If plan A doesn’t work, then there’s plan B and then C if it should happen. In French we have a saying: ‘there’s more than one way to whip a cat’ not that I would ever whip a cat!😉 you did well, my friend, and still do.
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You, too, Michele. We don’t give up and never will!
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