Changes in White Water

I have to say that right at this moment I am at peace.

Right now I am on my couch with silence except for the songs of Grasshoppers, the smell of freshly roasted hazelnuts and my thoughts all to myself.

Right now is...perfect.

So this weekend was pretty cool. And by "pretty" I mean REALLY FREAKING AWESOME!

I went White Water Rafting with 2 of my friends/coworkers, Geoff and Crystal.  I have no idea why I have never been before, but I know without a doubt that I will be going numerous times again.

We started the day off with a 5:30am start time. I was so tired but so excited!  The drive from Denver to Canon City was beautiful! I love driving south of the city, the people become fewer and farther between and you get closer to the mountains.

Once we pull up to the rafting venue, we wait a little bit and then we are shuffled into a school bus to take us to the river.  During our bus ride we get a safety briefing and I have to admit I started to get a little nervous.  I mean, I grew up near the ocean, I am a stronger swimmer- I should be fine, but the talk about getting your foot stuck in rocks kinda really scared me.

But we get through it, meet our guide and we're on the river!! Man our guide, Dallas was sooooo cool!  He was so calm, collected and humorous. He not only made rafting seem easy, he also schooled us on our surroundings and the history of the Royal Gorge.  So tip for you, if you ever go White Water Rafting at the Royal Gorge, ask for Dallas.  If you go somewhere else, ask for a University Professor.  Not only will you get to experience the fun of rafting, but you will also get a school lesson.  Kill two birds with one stone :)

The first half of our trip we hit some category 2 and category 3 rapids (pretty easy ones). Then we stopped for lunch and were served a delicious chicken fajita lunch....very nice [insert Borat's voice]

Then the afternoon was the best part.  We hit some category 3 and 4 rapids.  Man, those category 4 rapids were SO MUCH fun!  I had a smile on my face the entire time. My smile was due to the fact I was rafting and experiencing something new and by the fact that I was near water.

I miss water.

The day went by too fast for me. Before I knew it we had hit all of our rapids and were on our way back to camp.

Looking back on our rafting trip I thought about how what we experienced on the river pertains to our life, to our journey.  We, or at least me, expect that we can achieve our goals in a straight shot.  I mean how many times have you had a goal and you quit two weeks later because it became hard?

The journey to achieving our goals is like a river with rapids.  We meander through life until we reach our goal.  In doing so we have to carve our way through moutains.  Our mountains being old habits, negative thoughts, unsupportive friends... we need to constantly break through our barriers.

Once we do carve our way through and start creating a path to success, sometimes its smooth sailing.  For a while we had some nice flowing waters.  No rapids, just a current that was easy and pleasant.  And sometimes life can be that way.  We have hurdled our first obstacle and we have smooth sailing for a while, so we take a break and enjoy the easiness that life provides at that moment.

And then we see at a bend...rapids ahead.  We got lazy and stopped working out because we felt like we had done enough, we spent money on our credit cards because we felt like we deserved something for being good... those rapids are caused by rocks that block the flow of the water.  Some rocks are bigger than other.  During those rapids, you have to learn how to navigate.  If you don't paddle hard enough the raft might flip, if you don't steer you will end up stuck on a rock.

During those rapids in your journey, take a moment to think about your course of action.  And then paddle like hell.

You see, our journey to our goals may seem like its so easy if you have a plan.  But sometimes the current will change and cause you to go off course.  You just need to keep moving forward.  Rivers carve their ways through mountains.  They crash through those rocks on their way.  They create motion. They keep moving.

Be like rivers and don't stay stagnant. Carve your destiny, your dreams, your life, and don't let rocks stop you from your ultimate destination. 

Cheers!