What a Summer

I'm writing from the Starbucks patio in Thousand Oaks, sipping a Passion Tea in the sun and patiently wishing that it was already time to move back in to school. Passion Tea...why is it called that? If that's what passion tastes like, then no wonder I feel like I've got so much of it.

Passion for life in general you know. This summer has given me a lot of opportunities to realize how much there is to love about life and to love about my life and the potential that all life holds.

 I went to Costa Rica this summer where I experienced the richness of living life in an almost completely natural way with little to no need for anything materialistic. I saw people living with what seemed to be absolutely nothing, but they still walked with smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts because they were alive and able to enjoy the beauty that surrounded them. I want that. I want that all the time; I want to grab onto it and hold that feeling close to me forever so that I never lose it. I want that life for myself and I know that I'm capable of having it. I didn't finish exploring Costa Rica to the depths that I know I want to, which is why I know I'll be back. But even with what I did get to experience, I felt myself be shaken awake from the complacency I'd settled into here at home.

My dad had a heart attack two weeks ago. MY dad. My 56 year old dad who runs trails up in Arroyo two or three times every week, golfs and eats relatively healthy for someone who is as busy as he is. Talk about an absolute shock to the system. Thank God that there were some angels watching over him that day as I sat clueless in Los Angeles complaining about the heat and my co-workers. I can't say that I've ever been so scared in my whole life as I was when I came home and the answer to "Where's Dad?" was "Courtney, he's in the hospital. He had a heart attack this morning." I've never felt such an immediate pull to need to be somewhere with someone as soon as humanly possible as I did that afternoon. I could have lost my dad that day. And if that doesn't scare the shit out of you and make you value life and time with those you love that I don't know what will.

I spend a good portion of every day of my life with children. I teach swim lessons in the mornings, I guard open swim in the afternoon, and I go coach age-group swimming in the evening. How blessed am I to have decided what I want to do with my life and how I want to spend my career-life; I will be in a career that keeps me young and energetic and reminds me why it is important to have so much passion. Not to mention if I ever feel I'm losing some passion and need a refresher, it only takes a few minutes with a group of kids to reinvigorate a zest for life.

Moral of the story: it was a good summer. I've got some new appreciations and I'm proud of the direction that I'm going in my life - mentally and physically. Life is a beautiful thing.