No Brainer

Jekyll Island, Georgia

 

Despite my better angels, I’m here at the keyboard typing away for the first time in a few days. For months, my wife and I had planned a trip to the beach to do some seashelling. But, as it is with most things, good intentions get trumped by the reality of life’s demands. Still, with a couple of extra bucks in my pocket, I decided I owed it to her to take her down to Jekyll. For the average healthy person this trip is a no-brainer—just hop on US 341 and head South till you run out of real estate. But for the past ten years or so, nothing in my life is a “No Brainer.”

​So, despite temperatures in the mid-80s and my increasing fatigue due to new medication, by sheer will I pushed ahead and made the trip. I made sure I hydrated well before the trip, and I think that helped make the whole thing more bearable physically. Still, my bride seems to have enjoyed combing the three beaches we covered to find her shells. After a fair night of sleep at a budget motel, we headed back home a little sunburnt and a whole lotta tired. Even now in the late afternoon and after a long nap, I'm still a bit queasy in the head. But with the sand scrubbed off my body and enough Gatorade to float a boat, I pause to drop this note.

​I say all this not to toot my own horn and tell you how saintly I am. For I received my own benefit from all this, by turning off the phone for a moment, grabbing a few images, and just being. That for me was the value of the whole trip. Yes, my wife got a chance to add to her collection, and yes, I sacrificed yet again to do something nice for her. But there was a very selfish value in what I did. By going with the impulse of taking the trip, I granted myself a moment of solitude and reflection, letting the burdens of isolation melt away with the Seabreeze and the ocean.

#ThingsWeDoForLove #Caregiving #Selfish #Mindfulness #Solitude

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