The past four days have been so awesome, and have me feeling pretty good. Sunday, the family and I headed to East Charlotte to go to Great Wolf Lodge, a family friendly indoor/outdoor waterpark. We stayed till mid afternoon Tuesday, and hands down, had the absolute best family vacation we've had to date. The room we stayed in had a themed kids area called the wolf den, that had bunk beds, fantastic murals, and their very own TV- which in our family is a REALLY big deal- we're a one TV household, a seeming rarity today, so to get their own for three days was second only to the bunk beds themselves. The Waterpark was likewise a kids' dream come true, and fun for the adults too!
There was also a interactive fantasy game called Magi-quest that is basically a scavenger hunt all over the building which provided an interesting platform for seeing the differences and similarities in our two girls' personalities...Zoe decided on the character name Princess Rose- while Abby chose Dandelion Slayler- LOL...No real surprises there, nor were there any in their respective levels of enthusiasm regarding game play. Abby, ever intense and goal directed (usually overly so) was going to stop at nothing to complete all the quests so she could release her inner agression and slay the Dragon- thereby completeing the ultimate and final quest. Zoe on the other hand, is ever practical and Logic minded, and her better sense told her that all this running around, up and down the stairs chasing after pretend something or the other's was a waste of time better spent swimming and playing in the water park or just chilling out in front of the TV. In an interesting turn of events, as personality wise it's generally the other way around, I'd have to say I sided with Zoe on this one, while Rick was on par with Abby. Normally, I'd be the one running around all over the place while Zoe and Rick chilled in the room.. In the end, Abby couldn't fight the dragon, as it required the completion of more quests, but fortunately for her, all her hard work is saved and she can pick up where she left off last time.
We all just had an excellent time, the whole time, and watched both girls step outside their comfort zones and try out some new things. At first Abby didn't want to ride anything, but after day one of surveying the lay of the land, she was ready to go. There were some huge slides, that were a bit scary, even for us adults, and they came off saying again, again, again!! Both of them have been taking private swimming lessons, and it was obviously paying off....They were both exploring the deeper end of the pools- well over their heads a little at least- and doing so well. It was just so cool to watch them! We learned some valuable lessons while there too; at one point, abby got a bit overconfident, and got tired in over her head water, and though she never went under, she was stuck mentally and kinda freaked instead of coming on towards the side and the lifeguard jumped in after her! I was just about to jump in after her, but he beat me to the chase... Afterwards, she was of course upset, but said she was only upset because she wanted me to rescue her, not the lifeguard, lol... That funny little girl! I must say I'm honored though ;)...
Anyways, enough specifics, I think it's obvious we had a great time. Today, we just kinda kicked back and did whatever. Slept in a bit and I didn't really push the girls to do anything in particular because I knew we were all exhausted from all that playing we did on vacation. So I had a lot of thinking time, and did most of it while working in my flower gardens, as that's where I do my best thinking. The main thing that stood out to me was how much we can learn from children if we're willing to slow down from our busy adult lives, savor the moments we have with them, and allow them to teach us. My girls inspire me to be braver, stronger, kinder and more mannerly than I think I would otherwise be. I know they are watching me constantly and learning from what they see. I want them to be strong, courageous, self actualized women, and therefore I have to be too. Of course I'm not perfect, but when I falter, I am ever vigilant to make ammends- to appologize, admit the nature of my wrongs, and ask for forgiveness, because this is what I want them to do.
Another related thought comes to mind here, that in order to live life to the fullest we have to step outside our comfort zone and take calculated risks. I keep replaying a moment from the vacation when zoe wanted to go on this racing slide, and I knew from watching others do it, I was not going to enjoy it one bit...you had to lay on your belly on this mat, and go head first down this slide; Oh my lord help me.. but I did it anyway, because she told me I was brave enough! That made me feel so good inside! She even told me she was proud of me when we were done! That child has such a big heart and now I'm braver for walking through that experience... I was right, that I didn't enjoy it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! When I told her why I didn't like it, because of all the water splashing in my face, she replied, well, I just closed my eyes, and it was SO fun! That was such a foreign concept to me, but at the same time not. Of course I closed my eyes to keep all that water out, but that was precisely what I didn't like about it... By closing my eyes, I had to give up control of that situation- I couldn't see what lay before me, and, despite seeing kids 30 some odd years younger than me coming off that slide very much alive- with the look of extreme joy plastered from ear to ear, I had a hard time trusting I was gonna be ok!
Of course, there are much bigger risks and decisions to be made in life than deciding whether to go head first down a waterslide, but at the same time It provides a great analogy... The way I see it, we have three basic choices in life...We can let fear rule our lives, and attempt to "know" everything ahead of time, trying to control every little thing; we can dive head first into everything never considering the consequences of our actions for ourselves and others; or we can live with a strong faith that tomorrow will be good if today is lived well and in peace. From my life experiences to date, the later of these provides a kind of balance point between these two, and considering this the basis for decision making comes down to what will bring me the most peace both now and in the future? When I look back on my life in twenty years, what will bring me the most peace, having hid behind the curtain- taking the easy path by sitting idly by- waiting for all the pieces to fall into place, or taking the more difficult but more fulfilling path of living by actively making decisions for my life based on the information I can now right now in this moment.
This weekend served as the perfect reminder of how it is that I want to live my life, so that when I do look back in twenty years I'll be pleased with what I see. Children are so innocent; they live for the moment because, in my opinion, haven't yet had to experience all the curve balls life deals, that can, if we let them, lead us adults to want to hold on and to control our world. I constantly bear witness to the two extremes with my two kids. I've got one who is overly controlled and anxious, and another who is often carefree, often to her detriment, and I can see myself, at different stages of my life in both of them, and still go to these extremes too. Zoe encouraging me to go down that slide presented me with an opportunity to just let go of the outcome, get out of myself, walk through my fear and make a decision based on the information I had, and to role model taking chances. Before I went on that silly slide, I had a pretty good idea I wasn't gonna like it, but I couldn't know for sure- heck, maybe I will like it, so I'll take a calculated risk and try it- oh and pray real hard the whole way down, lol. After I went, my instinct was confirmed, but I don't regret doing it. because I was armed with more information than I would've had had I just stayed in my fear, and could therefore, make a more educated decision about what it is that didn't work for me.
The lesson here for me was this, that to live life to it's fullest, sometimes you just gotta go headfirst with your eyes closed!!!
Alright, I've written a book now, so it's off to bed I go, I'll add some relevant quotes tomorrow!
Denise
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