I'd spent a lot of time at sea in the past. I'd take any position on a boat if it meant being in the ocean. But when I was summoned to this one, my heart sank in disbelief. Sure, life had given me lemons in the past and I'd turned it into the sweetest lemonade you'd ever taste, but it rarely handed me a whole lemon pie. It wasn't real. I couldn't be true. It was something that in my heart, I felt destined to do, with every ounce of my being.
The days aboard were long and hard, catering to the people who cherished this boat even more than I could. Day in and day out, awake at 4am, to bed by midnight. For days I spent my hour break trying to catch a nap, but eventually realized that I was deteriorating that way. I started rejuvinating myself on deck instead, spending an hour in the sun, feeling the boat being pushed by the force of the wind. Each day grew harder, but the time on deck made it rewarding.
By the time the owners packed their bags, I was ready to go home. I had been there too long, and had worked too hard. The boats beauty was overlooked by the fatigue and exhaustion. I had the choice to leave, or to sail back around the entirety of Cape Cod and into Newport over the next several days. I reluctantly chose to stay. "Just come with us! It'll be fun", they said. "We'll go out on the town in Newport when we're back!", they said. "We're going to stop back at Martha's Vineyard", they said.
Over the next three days, all of those things proved true. Some of the most cherished moments of my life happened aboard this boat and within that time. But I can never go back. Time only moves forward. I look to the future with anticipation, expecting that life will reward me with opportunities in the way it always has. The universe has a funny way of reminding you how amazing life can be when you trust it.
