March 04, 2013

Can We

The night before we left for Madeira we all had our usual pre-trip anxieties.

What was it going to be like for the four of us to be together constantly for ten days, let alone living out in the country with relatives?

The kids are now 19 and 21 and it had been over two years since we had all been sequestered like this together for so long.

And for me, quietly I worried- can the plane land successfully again on Madeira's short runway, which has been listed as one of the most dangerous airports in the world?

It's interesting what fears come up when we embark on adventures.

The night before we left, as we were hurriedly celebrating both Valentine's Day and my birthday, I suggested a plan at the dinner table to help insure that we had a good time together.

I had done this with my siblings last summer before we cleaned out my mom's house, to ready it for sale, and it really helped.

So I said to Tom and the kids:

Can we make a pact to not fight or put each other down?

Can we just keep negative thoughts to ourselves, or write them in a journal, or put them in an imaginary balloon and allow them to float up into the abyss?

Can we?

So we all agreed that we would try our best and in doing so we were able to have a really nice trip together.





The power of intention.

The older I grow, the more clearly I see how powerful  it is.