SWB: It's Alive!

It can be funny what things make you more aware of living. Last Friday evening, I went ice skating with my family and my brother's family who was visiting over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was not our plan to go skating, we had banked on going bowling - but when we arrived it was leagues only, so we had to come up with a plan B.

Plan B's are always interesting.

When we left to meet up with my brother and his family, I admittedly was a little nervous. While we try to keep in touch via Facebook and such, it had been a long while since we'd seen each other in person.
On my husband's suggestion on going ice skating, we both initially thought that the kids would go; but the adults? Nah!
Well, upon everyone's arrival at the ice arena we all got into the spirit of things and EVERYONE decided to go skating.
Was that my voice saying, "Sure, I've never done this before. But I'll give it a try!"?
Surely, that could not have been me, right?

Well, it was my voice that said it.
It was my voice that asked for the skates at the counter and it was my body and hands that laced up the skates and anxiously stepped out on the ice.

There were people everywhere! Alas, I was the ONLY adult gripping the ledge for dear life. (My husband was doing the same, but I could not see that till I was once around the rink) My mouth was all cottony and my head was hot as blazes even though it was a chilly 35 degrees in the rink. What was I thinking!



Each time I made it around the rink, it got a little easier. I started to look up instead of staring petrified at my feet. I started to relax and even chat with my niece and sister-in-law as they skated rings around me. I even let go of the wall for half of the time on my last loop on the ice. After about an hour of skating as best as my novice feet would take me, I was ready for a trip upstairs to the refreshment stand. Soon, I'd like to give this skating thing another try.

The whole group gathered at the snack bar. We shared some time of catching up, laughing and relaxing together. We had a genuinely fun time at the ice arena on Friday evening. With our sodas and Icees in hand, we closed the snack bar and took the dimming lights as our cue to head home.

As we said our goodbyes for the night, I was proud of my family for taking on something new. I was proud of myself for making the call to my brother and having the opportunity to re-connect. The things that make us feel alive are not always the comfortable things we're used to. Sometimes, you have to try something new. Or in this case reaching out again and then trying something new.



Later that evening as I tried to go to sleep, my stomach still was fluttering. At first I though it was from the eventful evening, but in a little while I was to find out that a stomach bug was the cause of these butterflies.

The skating, the family time, and yes, even the stomach bug did prove to me that I'm alive. Being alive, is a challenging, exciting, sometime uncomfortable, but wonderful thing to be.

Who would have thought that going with plan B would be so life giving? That plan B stuff, that is something to seriously think about.