Tuesday Travel

I head home today. I always find it fascinating that no matter how much I enjoy traveling, heading home is also exciting. Even though I was with my wife all weekend, I missed being with her the last two days. I also have missed my wonderful daughter. Knowing that I will see them both later today excites me to no end! I also enjoy the "process" of traveling.

While being at the whim of a transportation company can drive many people up a wall, I actually enjoy it. I know that some of that is my acceptance of narcolepsy. In the same way that I can't control the way my body responds on any given day, I also have no power over the functioning (or non-functioning) of a plane or train or bus. As a result, I am able to let go and simply accept what comes. It has taken a long time to reach that place. I used to be furious when trying to go somewhere if things went awry. But, it is one benefit of chronic illness - I daily have to face "things" not going the way I want them too. If I tried to fight every one of them, I would be insane by now.

Even yesterday was a great example. A dear friend and I planned to meet for dinner. Since I am in Maryland and can avail myself of decent public transportation, I took the Metro red line to meet him. I knew the trip would take 45 minutes, but that was fine. I was not inconveniencing the friends putting me up, and I could enjoy the ride. The Metro went well, and I arrived in White Flint with time to spare. The troubles began when I walked out of the Metro station. I seem to have a knack for always guessing the wrong way to go. I was meeting my friend at the White Flint Mall, but walked in the opposite direction. When I eventually arrived back at my starting point, I again chose poorly, but did manage to find the mall while working my way back to the start once again. In total I walked for an hour, probably covered at least 3 miles, wasted most of the energy that I had, and was a half-hour late in meeting my friend. While I was definitely frustrated, I did keep both my self-loathing and my ire at the lack of signage in check. I even found a book for which I had been searching. Even better, I bought it at Barnes & Noble rather than the Border's in the White Flint Mall. I do like Border's, but they had irritated me of late because they did not have this book when they promised that they would. Had I not done all of that walking, I might purchased the book at Border's instead (which would have bothered me), or worse, I might not have found it at all because maybe the White Flint Mall Border's also would have let me down.

I proceeded to have a fun night with my friend. He then drove me back to the place I am staying. That was good both because we got a chance to talk even more and because I don't know if I would have been alert enough on the Metro to get off at the correct stop on the way back. Gotta love narcolepsy, huh? Bottom line, I know that I need to appreciate the blessings and gifts that do come my way, even as I accept the hiccups and disruptions that accompany the good. Nothing is perfect, nor will anything ever be. But, I have so many blessings, and for that I am grateful. My constant sleepiness will be a bane for the rest of my life. I can't change that, but by accepting it (like the delays that may happen as I travel home today) my life will be a much saner and much better experience.