On getting there..

Does it ever happen to you that the more prepared you are for something the more seems to go wrong? Like the more planning involved the less likely things are to go according to plan? Especially when traveling. I've packed and shopped all week. I won't bore you with details but just know I have packed enough snacks and pinterested enough car friendly kid activities to fly around the world. 

We're just driving to Florida. 14 hours. 2 kids. And about a million ants. We've just stopped at our half way point to spend the night and happened to unknowingly park on top of a very large ant hill. Imagine our surprise when we are loading up this morning only to find thousands of tiny ants feasting on a buffet of goldfish crackers, raisins and the orange pop that soaked into the back floorboard last night. Now imagine the line of cars at the gas station impatiently staring at us as we proceed to take every item out of the car and pile it on the ground for inspection before we vacuum. It's only 9 am. 

I won't mention that we were stuck in traffic three hours yesterday and how very challenging this is to our four year old's potty training skills, which seem to have regressed from ok to non existent. Or the fact that there is a nail in our back tire. Oh and our left headlight burnt out. Again.  

Not complaining or anything.

Maybe it's just that illusion of control that preparing brings, then when the inevitable yet unexpected happens we are surprised and frustrated. Maybe I should learn to expect the unexpected and lean into flexibility. Enjoying the journey is no easy task. 

Except for when you get there. When you reach the prize. Then you tend to forget the not so easy parts of the journey or you can at least justify that they were worth it. Ask any marathon runner, PhD student or new mother. They will tell you the grunt work and the little upsets along the way to thier goal were not easy but that they would do it again. What is the saying .."Nothing worth having comes easy."  

But how about when you have 6 hours to go and there are ants crawling up your leg? Or when you hit mile 15 and you're pretty sure your toes are bleeding? Or when you can't take another breath in labor but you have to push just one more time? 

Press on. 

Know you're not alone.

Keep your eye on the prize.

Quote some inspirational cliches. 

Whatever you got to do to just get there. Because you will. Whether you are prepared or not. Whether it turns out to be what you expected or not. You will get there.  Wherever there is. And remember that once you attain this present goal a new challenge will soon take it's place. That's what makes us grow and mature. Lessons that we learn on a hard journey are the ones that become a part of who we are. The experiences become a layer of us. And blog posts. 

As the beloved Shauna Niequist says in her book Bittersweet:

"When you stay with something instead of walking away, it builds something new inside of you, something solid and weighty, something durable. But you do have to wait for it, you have to earn it the hard way."

Now my story is a little funny and I might be a little dramatic to compare it to the actual hard things of life. I pride myself in the uncanny capability to make mountains out of molehills. Or anthills, whichever.