Experience: The Importance of Saving for a Rainy Day
Our days are numbered and yet we don’t have access to that number. Some of the lucky ones are able to live long fulfilled lives, being active, aware and content until their last day, while others’ lives are cut short by negative health experiences or untimely death. With this being the case, it is imperative that we choose our experiences wisely. So many people go through their lives going to a job that they hate, use vacation in order to spend time with family members who may be less than their favorite people and occupy countless hours in front of various types of screens, out of a sense of obligation, to pass the time or avoid reality. We can, of course, choose this life for ourselves, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I prefer to enjoy life as fully as I can, logistically and financially, while I am physically able.
There was a time, where travel and exciting opportunities were not a part of my life and did not seem like an imaginable possibility, until I sat in a car with an atlas of the United States in my hands. I began looking at all the green areas, National Parks, and questioned why I thought that I couldn’t visit them: so far away, so unreachable, so much money, so much time. The real reason was that I had never even considered it as a option, until this day in which a seed was planted. Shortly after, I met someone who had just been to all of the National Parks in Utah. He described them with such excitement and wonder that the seed began to grow. By the following spring break, we had plans to go visit the parks in Utah, but I looked on the map and realized that we could also visit the Petrified Forest, The Painted Desert and The Grand Canyon. This became our first trip of many to the National Parks, from the East coast to the West Coast, through the Rocky Mountains, into Canada, England, Ireland and Scotland, all from a tiny seed planted, while sitting in a car, looking at an atlas.
I have thousands of memories and photos from our trips. These memories are in my mental bank for a rainy day, a day when I am not able to go. Now, this rainy day doesn’t have to be far in the future or at a time of disability, it can be while sitting in a waiting room, waiting for a client or for children in a pick up line. The first time an anesthesiologist asked me to go to my happy place, in 1999, he mentioned beach and ocean water, which for most would have been happy. My reply just before I went under, was of the visualization of having two jelly fish wrap around both legs, leaving their uncomfortable venom. This was due to the fact that I only had limited experience and an unpleasant one at that. My last big occasion to need pleasant imagery for visualization, was for an MRI, two actually, back to back. If you have had an MRI, you will totally understand, however if you have not, I’ll explain. There is a reason you are having and MRI, in the first place, and that has probably created pain and fear.
You are placed on a hard plastic board that looks like the inside of a coffin and told not to move a muscle and asked to breath with as little movement as possible. Then the board, along with you, is slid into a dark tunnel, just larger than you, fortunately someone told me not to open my eyes. There is audio communication between you and the radiology staff and copious amounts of very loud banging, knocking and buzzing noises with short pauses. This situation is enough to throw many into quite a panic!
I kept my eyes closed, while beginning gentle rhythmic breathing, and went on a hike in Waterton National Park. I observed the stream, the trail, the trees, the grizzly scat and climbed steadily higher on my journey to one of the longest hikes, for tourists, in that park, 26 km. The sky was blue with puffy white clouds and the trail wound back and forth up the mountain until at last we reached and emerald green lake, Goat Lake, which is fed by a glacier. Then I got on the train between Toronto and Vancouver. While riding and looking at the scenery, I had a wine tasting venue, yummy and soothing to the nerves. I got off the train in Jasper National Park and took a ride in a convertible smart car, just imagine, in order to hike to many waterfalls with rainbows in their spray and more lakes that look like giant, aqua blue swimming pools. I lie in the sunshine, on a large, flat, deep red colored rock in Red Rock Canyon and looked up at the royal blue sky and listened to the climbing guide encourage a beginning climber, while also listening to a hawk’s majestic call. I got into a convertible Mustang and drove through the Going to the Sun Road, in Glacier National Park, with the top down, feeling the wind on my face and the sun warming my skin, while looking at the mountains that seem to go on forever. I went to a few other places in that time period of just over an hour. During the MRI, I could have experienced a panic attack and obscured the films, which would have caused them to redo the procedure but I chose an amazing experience instead. I am extremely grateful to have saved for that rainy day! The above photo is taken in the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington, USA. I encourage you to plan your next short hike, bike ride or destination vacation and bask in life’s pleasantness, while giving little thought to the minor annoyances, which surround us.
Feel free to share this article with those you care about.
Holly Aaron, BA, LMT, HTP, INHC
Aspire Holistic Health and Wellness, LLC
Fayetteville, AR
Providing Massage, Healing Touch and Health Coaching
Aspire to reach your potential in body, mind and spirit!
For appointments: Call or Text 479-283-6507