I’m sitting at Tampa International enjoying the last few swigs of my beer and trying to sort through a million thoughts swimming in my brain. The false start on Friday threw me off and was definitely annoying. And it also forced me to say my goodbyes all over again. But I had a super fun Mardi Gras weekend in Dunedin and am grateful for my amazing friends who had my back in a pinch (thank you, Ann and Paula!!).
It appears that all systems are a-go for the first leg of my trip up to Boston. I’ll have a few-hour layover and then on to Ponta Delgada on a red-eye. The heart is racing and the nerves are firing at full blast (hence the need for a beer). I really didn’t have anything profound or thoughtful to share as I begin my adventure other than a commonly used Portuguese proverb that I stumbled upon a few weeks ago…
Água mole, pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura
The literal translation is “Soft water, hard stone keeps beating until it gets through”
According to the site where I found it, it represents the need to keep going in the face of difficult, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In its literal sense, water may not penetrate or split a rock straight away, but given enough time beating against it, erosion will break the rock down.
This trip is not the hardest or scariest thing I’ve done by a long shot. The past 15 months have been filled with more challenges, frustrations, and insurmountable obstacles than I could’ve ever fathomed to have experienced in this lifetime. I was exhausted by being forced to do hard things all of the goddamn time. Just because I can do hard things doesn’t mean I want to do hard things. And I’m certain that every single person reading this has gone through something similar at some point in time.
But now, I leave the difficulties behind me and turn the page.
It’s time to push through and break that fucking rock down.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure and “see” you on the other side of the pond. 👋
Amor e luz (love and light),
MW