“What a wonderful phrase, Hakuna Matata, it ain’t no passing craze! It means no worries, for the rest of your days. It’s our problem-free philosophy, hakuna matata.” It is said that those two words will solve all your problems. Hakuna Matata!
Now, many of you may recognize that little ditty from a classic Disney animated film, Lion King. It is the song that two characters, Timon and Pumbaa teach to little Simba about not worrying about things, but letting life come to you. Well, some people may think that Richard and I have that kind of lackadaisical attitude about our trip. No attachments, no doubts, no worries, whatever… well that is far from the truth. Here are just a few what ifs that I have regarding our cruising trip.
What if one of the boys falls overboard and we don’t notice or hear them?
What if Richard and I haven’t perfected our man-overboard maneuvers?
What if something happens to my knee again and I have to hobble around the boat?
What if one of us gets malaria or typhoid, even after we have taken the proper precautions?
What if the food is terrible and Ethan and Matthew will not eat a single bite?
What if the homeschooling flops and the boys fall behind?
What if we are tripping over each other for an entire year and just can’t find a good groove in the sailing lifestyle?
What if one of the boys just hates it and cries every night to go home?
What if we miss our family and friends so much, we just can’t bear to be away?
What if something happens to Richard and I have to sail the boat all by myself?
It has been difficult to purge our belongings for an entire year, to only live with what is beautiful and truly useful, because “stuff” doesn’t make you happy. Please don’t call me unsentimental or accuse me of having my head in the clouds. I am trying to cherish and treasure every moment and memory that we are creating with our family and friends. But it is difficult to have to defend our decision to live on a sailboat to some. And if I dwell on the negative, we are going to have a rough year, the boys will struggle and Richard will be trying to hold all of us together. Yes, so much can go horribly wrong and we will take every precaution to keep everyone safe, healthy and content. There is also so much that can go right and be fabulous!
WHAT IF WE ALL LOVE OUR YEAR OF CRUISING AND WE WANT TO KEEP GOING?
L
I think it’s the last “whatif” that will be more likely! You are embarking on an experience few others will undertake in their lifetimes. Go and be blessed, and bless us with your blog. We will be reading and traveling along with you!
Thanks for the encouragement. We decided to do a blog because it forces us to diary the trip and its a good way to keep in touch with family. Since we started it has been growing, making the whole experience a little more rich. We like comments.
I’m just sitting now to catch up on your blog – I’m far behind! Looking forward to reading. Your writings will be a rich well of memories for later. Hugs to you all!