Just getting back from a week + in Chicago and my parents summer lake home in Northern Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula (Glen Arbor / Sleeping Bear Dune for those in the know).
What a great family vacation. And so nice to be out of LA. In the wake of my recent bike crash, it was exactly what I (and my family) needed.
Following up on my “Dismantling” post a few weeks back, my crash has really given me good pause to reflect on my life, what is important to me, and what is in the best interest of my wife and kids. It has been a revealing and eye opening experience that was only elevated by this trip.
I am coming to a place of truly embracing the present moment and experiencing gratitude in the present for what I have been given. But also compelled me to look at my life and how I can make it better. What do I truly want to expend my energy on during this short life? How can I be more of service? What things no longer serve me that must be excised? All great questions we should all be asking ourselves daily of course, and yet rarely do.
And so my wife and I have been putting our minds and spirits together to come up with a plan for change. And possibly even big change — maybe even moving out of LA, downsizing our lives, co-creating what we really want. What we want for ourselves and the experience and example we want to set for our children.
In Chicago, we hit all the museums, the zoo and many a great meal. In Michigan we reveled in the woods, in family and the childlike freedom a small town can give our little ones. The simple joy of a Fourth of July Parade; big dinners with my family, parents and sister; tossing the footbal on the beach and going for a paddle. And it gave us pause as we experienced so many things that are a really not a part of our busy lives in Los Angeles. It was great.
And I was able to spend many solitary hours on the bike, out running in the woods and swimming in Lake Michigan, training throughout the secenic Leelanau Peninsula, enjoying the flat roads, the trees, the remote beauty and simplicity of it all. And I wanted more.
I don’t know the answers to the questions I am asking. But I’m asking. And I’m paying attention, focusing on the ever widening possibilities and the idea that we can have the wonderful opportunity of creating for ourselves the life we want. One thing I do know? Just because I suffered a serious bicycle accident, I’m not getting off the bike. If anything, I want to spend far more of my life involved in endurance sports, pushing my spiritual and physical limits, deeping my commitment to wellness and nutrition, finding new challenges, and exploring all the lifestyle and potential business opportunities this might bring our way.
I can’t wait to see where it all leads.
