Shrink-Wrapped Cheerios

It has been a long week, but a good one. Long because every day has felt like two: one part driving and one part being on vacation. Long because it’s the start of a completely new phase of life and new things seem to take more time than things I’m accustomed to. And long because I’m counting the Friday we left, so it’s really 10 days rather than a week.

It’s been good for many, many reasons.

I won’t go through the litany of things we saw and places we stopped on the way to Williamsburg. Suffice it to say we’ve seen nearly 3,000 more miles of the good old USA and checked three more states off of my list (I’ve now been on the ground in 41 states!). Thanks to some generous souls and a terrific support team, we had a smooth, virtually problem-free journey highlighted by an excellent sendoff and a couple of good visits on the way.

So now I’m in Williamsburg and I’ve started unpacking. One of the items I pulled out was a Ziplock bag of Cheerios. Filled in Salt Lake and nestled into a square portion of my box of food, it came out in the sea level air pressure looking shrink-wrapped. It stayed in its box shape until I opened the bag to eat some cereal this morning.

In some ways I feel like that shrink-wrapped bag of Cheerios. Before, I felt free and easy. I had room to move and I knew what I was able to do. I felt prepared and confident. Now I feel a little sucked in and tight, like there’s pressure all around me and I don’t have much flexibility. And I’m not sure what shape I’ll be in when the bag opens and I’m exposed to a whole collection of new experiences.

But I do know things will work out. For whatever reason, I know I’m supposed to be here doing what I’m doing. And I know there’s a path prepared for me to follow.

And if a few cheerios get spilled along the way, no worries. Life goes on and I intend to go on with it.