March 1, 2014 Sailing, Sailing (and rolling and sliding and otherwise losing my grip on any solid surface)

Well, here it is, nearly the end of our first full day of
Line Dancing at Sea.  By all rights, I
should be sound asleep after being up from about 6:30 yesterday morning until
1:30 this morning, then back up around 6:30 for an hour at the gym (more on
that later) and 4 hours of dancing, or should I say, attempting to maintain at
least some grip on a floor which seemed to relocate beneath our feet at wildly
irregular intervals.  If I don’t come
back from this trip with buns of steel, I am going to want to know why!  Line dancing on a solid surface is going to
seem like child’s play after this trip! 
Unlike our last trip when weather conditions were cool but calm this
trip was literally blown in by not one, but two large storms,. The resulting
choppiness on the sea has, thus far, been a unique and challenging experience.

But I promised to share the gym experience, and share it, I
will.  Early this morning, I took myself
up to the gym which is located near the tippy top (and I do mean
“tippy”) of the ship.  Jumping
on an elliptical kind of machine (this one simulates cross country skiing), I
began my 20 minute warmup, doing my best to get a glimpse of the sea,
unobstructed by the oversized tv screen mounted on the front of the piece of
equipment.  As I dutifully pedaled my
way to about a mile and a half while standing up, I watched a mere drizzle on
the windows suddenly turn to a deluge, followed by clearing and some attempts
by the sun to find its way out of the clouds.

But the view wasn’t the only thing that was spectacular
about my trip to this floating gym in the sky. 
Because the sea has been so rough, with swells the size of Mt. Saint
Helen’s coming randomly and frequently, I found myself  repeatedly slowing my steps and holding on
for dear life as one of those swells sent this enormous ship bucking and
rolling.  Now I know how bull riders
feel!  At least I wasn’t one of the
hapless ones who opted for a run on the treadmill, only to find themselves
flung unceremoniously onto a machine 4 or 5 spaces over, much to the dismay of
the current occupant!  From that point
forward, even the experienced runners had the good sense to make sure they had
a firm grip on their machine.

Today was leg day, and presented its own kind of challenges
because weights do not perform in the same manner on a rolling sea as they do
upon dry land.  I cannot imagine
why!  But then, as we worked on the new
dances our instructor, Candy, had worked endless hours to prepare for us, we
found, in the second session of the day, that it was all we could do to keep a
firm hold on the floor, much less navigate all of the intricate steps of the
advanced dance she was teaching in the second session.  I, myself, got probably 3/4 through it when
my brain shut down from the double stimuli of learning a new dance, remaining
in an upright position and still actually performing the steps on the proper
counts.  

The truth is, even dances I know like the back of my hand
presented unusual challenges today as the ship’s refusal to cooperate with our
dance time necessitated extra steps to keep from falling, thus taking me out of
the prescribed sequence!  Kudos go out to
my friend, Paul, who was able to nail the hardest dance of the day, unlike the
rest of us!  We’ll see how we all do
tomorrow, although, between the sticky floor at my usual club, the heavy leg
workout today, dancing last night and tonight in the clubs and the crazy day of
lessons and line dancing, my right knee is warning me that it can only be
expected to perform so much longer before going on strike!

Another aside here. 
My friend, Karen (who, by the way, is another twin.  She’s a lovely brunette while her twin is
blonde, prompting me to think of them as Snow White and Rose Red.) asked if I
would be mentioning her in my blog post today, so Karen, this one’s for you,
and thank you so much for continuing to read what comes out of my fingers day
after day.  I swear, I have no control
over what might come out at any given time. 
I’m simply the vehicle through which all of these seeming words of
wisdom flow.  That’s my story and I’m
stickin’ to it!

I found myself starting to fret over one of my friends’, in
my opinion, self destructive behavior today. 
After trying to express my concerns to another friend, rather
unsuccessfully, I realized that it is not for me to worry about another person’s
choices. If I care about her, all I can really do is send her loving energy and
trust that the choices she makes are the right ones for her.   Clearly, the Universe sees that I still confuse
caring with worrying and is sending me another lesson, and loving friends, to
remind me yet again that we all need to make the choices which are most
appropriate for whatever stage of our life we’re in, and regardless of how
those choices look to others, they are ours to make as we move along our own
path.  

So this is me. 
Resetting my inner compass back to caring and compassion, and away from
worry or a desire to interfere. 

For now, the cramping in my right leg is telling me that I
need to do a little more self healing, aided by some homeopathics and turmeric,
so I will close with ny gratitudes.

1. I am grateful for a weekend spent with good friends,
doing what I love the best.

2. I am grateful for a body which is usually very
cooperative, but will not hesitate to tell me if I’ve overdone and need to stop
and rest.

3. I an grateful to my friends for presenting me with
reminders and new lessons on old, as yet unmastered topics.

4. I am grateful for the rocking of the ship which brings
peaceful slumber.

5. I am grateful for a day in dock which should make for a
more peaceful series of lessons.

Love and light