Friday, Sep 29, 2017

Negotiations

I had a birthday this week. I’m now 55.

Getting old is a strange phenomenon. For me, there often is a disconnect between the guy I see in the mirror and that guy on his way to the mirror. Sometimes I find this disconnect in the performance of the guy doing the exercise and that guy who sets out to do the exercise. Life is getting weird.

My head and my body have entered negotiations to create my new reality. Each has to show respect for the other. Each has to demonstrate compassion to the other for what was and what is. Above all, each has to use his own experience and skills to aid the other to stay strong, stay sharp. It is a necessary partnership to produce the greatest odds of fantastic opportunities and experiences in the years to come.

So hell yes, here’s to 55!

Connections Are Present

I had a great day filled with so many birthday greetings and well wishes that I didn’t have time to think about getting old. I was enjoying being alive, being connected, and being loved. What an awesome gift! One of my best presents was a video sent from the nurses I worked with on the NICU medical rounds team, a group of committed healthcare professionals intent on delivering the highest quality medical care to the tiniest and most vulnerable of patients.

It was the best gift because it was so unexpected, yet so very much appreciated. It was a gift that validated my belief and reminded me, once again, the importance of relationships and connection with people as we travel along the road of our life’s journey. Sometimes people travel with us for miles and miles over the course of decades; while others may travel with us only a short distance, yet the impact of that shared journey can last a lifetime. The truth is, you just never know what you will get from whom.

For me that is reason enough to be open, be kind, be hospitable, and be generous with as many people who I find myself traveling alongside. It makes for better conversations too when the road turns into a total uphill, pain in the ass climb. So far I haven’t met anyone who can’t relate to this stretch of road. It is common ground. At the end of the day, it’s just pretty cool being human and sharing the human experience.

Friends, Food, and Fun

Speaking of humans, great humans at that, I was fortunate enough to enjoy my birthday dinner in Montanita with my wife and our friends here in Olon. I picked pizza and beer. We ended up at Ezzio’s located on the south side of cocktail alley. They have one of the best pizza crusts I have eaten in Ecuador! Cooked in a wood fired pizza oven, each pizza comes out with a bubbly hot cheesy top and a browned to perfection crispy bottom. The price was terrific too!

Birthday Blast (Heidi is taking the photo)

Birthday Cake Bliss

Heidi asked our friend Soraya to make my birthday cake. Soraya had made Heidi’s cake last month too. I can say with certainty that the pizza was only outdone by Soraya’s incredibly delicious chocolate cake. I also received a great bottle of rum from my friend Mark, so I cracked that open and we all enjoyed Cubra Libres.

Life is good in Ecuador. It is like life anywhere else with its ups and downs, and it is this section of road I find myself on now. Many of those who I travel alongside of now are different from those travelers I left in the States, yet those connections remain.

Sharing Life’s Journey

Part of my new reality, part of being 55, part of the road of my life’s journey.

Chau.