What's the Takeaway?

Since I have retired, the biggest part of my life is very quiet, and I am okay with that. A few weeks ago, for some reason for three straight days, my calendar was full and overflowing. It was exciting to have a change up in my regularly mundane life, and I looked forward to spending time with four very lovely women.  I feel nothing short of blessed for having them in my life and I thought, I think there are lessons here. Faye, what is your takeaway going to be? 

I am starting off with my trip to "The Leaf" in Winnipeg to celebrate my friend's birthday. I think everyone upon entering the dome is initially struck by the intense heat and humidity. Once I adapted my first thought was, I can't even keep one single indoor plant alive and look at the thousands in this building that are thriving. Someone is passionate about keeping these plants not only alive, but in a perfect growing environment, even in the dead of a Manitoba winter.  My friend kept saying how lovely it would all be once it all grows and fills in, I believe it will resemble a jungle. There are two other areas to enjoy at The Leaf, and we finished our time with the butterflies. Butterflies are not only beautiful, but they symbolize change, transformation and hope. They are just living the perfect life, flying around in their little dome. Everyone just sat and embraced some butterfly beauty as they flew about not making a sound.

The Leaf has a very nice restaurant with a unique menu. I love to give an experience for a gift, and a long leisurely lunch with a friend is a perfect way to celebrate any birthday. Being able to enjoy wine, a nice meal and coffee made me realize how lucky I truly am. To share similar life perspectives with someone is always gratifying.  I had many a takeaway from this day, the first and foremost is, every birthday should be celebrated. Secondly, I realized how lovely it was to take as long as I wanted to enjoy lunch. I have rushed so much of my life either missing meals or eating in my car. Every minute of the trip to Winnipeg fell under the category of "a great time". 

The next evening, I went to a high school musical with another good friend, and we had such a nice time just hanging out. I kept thinking how happy those students were singing, dancing and performing.  Was it perfect, by no means, but it was perfect in their minds. They had found their passion and put 100% effort into the production. It was clear that some of those students just have to get their high school diploma and then find their way to enjoy performing music or acting or both as a full- time job. My takeaway from this evening was, there is something for everyone and I hope these students will find it.  

Next up was a road trip. I love road trips. I am like a dog, stick me in the vehicle and away we go, the trip can be for a cause or just a drive, it doesn't matter to me. I went road tripping with a Condo friend to pick up a parcel in the states. If you are a passenger, it gives you an opportunity to embrace the world around you. We drove through a valley and of course I saw my beloved water starting to break up. I hadn't been out of Canada since the start of Covid. For some reason I always feel a wee bit of anxiety crossing over the border. When we were coming back, we were stopped for an outgoing check by the US Customs officers. These men were very serious about their job, and I felt like I was at a Mexican port. The officers were extremely intimidating and for some reason I felt guilty of who knows what. Seriously, how threatening can two retired women be? Maybe they thought we had only been gone ten minutes, what were we up to. A pair of runners in the back seat, was what we were up to. 

My takeaway from this little adventure was, what simple fun and undivided attention happens during a road trip. If my friend and I hadn't had to take a detour in our lives we would never have met and become such good friends. As with any trip, we stopped to eat.  We had chicken in the summer snack place along the way. My takeaway from that was, "how on earth do families afford to eat in places like this?". 

                            

The last of my four activities in three days was to have a coffee date with a friend that I had lost touch with. I realized that she and I had a common issue in our lives, and I needed to ask her advice. She was one of those people that had already lived an experience and I needed to tap into that knowledge. It was an opportunity for my friend to share her story and for me to learn from her words. The takeaway lesson for me was to reach out more and enjoy one on one time with a friend. It doesn't matter how old a story may be, some people need to tell it over and over again. I realized that every conversation has a lesson to be learned. We all come away from being with someone and say, "you will never guess what I heard today".

I know I am guilty of taking to much for granted and I forget to think "What was I to learn from this" or "what is my takeaway". Reflection is very important in life, especially as I age. For me if I revisit the experience, share about how it made me feel, it stays with me longer. As we rush through life, we forget the contentment and fun we were having. I believe every day has a takeaway to be used in our lives, maybe we just need to think about it more. I hope you are finding a takeaway in this post and maybe sometime to reflect on it.