Anyone who knows me knows that my life revolves around water. Every vacation, since birth, has centered around water. In fact, I don’t think I consider a trip a vacation WITHOUT water. I love water. It’s my Jesus spot. It’s where a million family memories have been made. It’s also where I fell in love with fast boats.
Ever since I was little, I have been obsessed with speed boats. Baja’s, Formula’s, Interceptor’s….you name it…I love it. The faster, the louder, the better. I have always told everyone that my dream was to get to ride in one. In fact, I have often threatened to swim up to a random person with one of these awesome boats, offer them $20 bucks for gas, and ask them to take me on a ride with the throttle wide open. Everyone laughed…..
Over Labor Day Weekend 2018, we were at the lake with my family. We just so happened to be parked on the dock by the incredible boat pictured above. I oogled this boat every time we went to the dock. My dad had struck up a couple of conversations with the owner. Long story short, the owner of this impressive machinery is from Muncie, and we all have similar acquaintances. My dad kept mentioning that we kids would love to ride in a boat like that. I was secretly hoping for an invitation for a ride, but that hadn’t happened. By the last day, I had pretty much given up on getting a ride.
Then it happened.
We pulled into the dock after our last full day on the water. My literal dream boat (and I am talking about the boat) pulled in shortly after. The words I had longed to hear finally happened. “Hey! Would you guys like a ride?” Now, I am probably the world’s most calculated person. I would not take a risk on a whim. Well, all inhibitions went out the window. I took about a two second pause, and then jumped onto the dock, said yes, and jumped in the boat without hesitation. It wasn’t until we got back from our ride that it dawned on me that I didn’t have a life jacket on……whoops.
The second we took off in the boat, I became a three year old kid. Check out the picture of me at the top of this blog post. That is the face of a 31 year old woman who is living her life long dream. And this picture was taken at 110 mph. Yep. You read that right. This is faster than I have ever gone, on land or on water, in my entire life. AND I WAS LIVING!!!
At the end of the ride, I couldn’t stop thanking our driver. He was awesome and I had the time of my life. I will never forget this experience as long as I live.
It also has caused me to think. When is the last time you took a risk? When have you just jumped into something that you didn’t calculate first? Did it end up being the best experience of your life? Did a life long dream come true? Now, I ‘m not encouraging you to be reckless. You need to be safe. However, why not dive in and chase that dream of yours? Why not, for once, do something unexpected?
Go for it! You never know what you will find when you jump in, take off, and fly!
Real Teacher Real Life 