Our First Cruise

We just took our first cruise ever. It was a 23 day voyage from Vancouver to Alaska to Japan. WOW! The food! The fun! The learning! What? Yah. I learned so much on this cruise.

I learned to rest as much as I needed. Honestly, I’ve never rested so much in all my adult life! I allowed myself to experience the pure pleasure of doing absolutely nothing - without any negative judgement. I experienced the immense beauty of places I’ve never been before; I was reminded that just being in nature brings peace.

We had 8 consecutive sea days. They were rough with 10-15 foot waves and 50 mile an hour winds. There were many times where the ship slapped back down into the water so hard, it felt like landing on cement! It was scary! Going through the turbulence made me appreciate smooth sailing. Life is like that. If there were never any difficult times, we would not value the good times because we don’t know the difference.

We received a gift from the Universe by speaking up. Our little cabin was extremely noisy during the rough seas. My husband slept through it all, but after two nights of my not getting any sleep, I mentioned it to our steward, Reinheart. He arranged for someone to come and see if they could reduce the noise. When it was determined it could not be fixed while out to sea, we were offered a junior suite at no additional cost! It was double our original room and we enjoyed it for the remaining 2 weeks of our cruise.

A lesson in allowing and setting boundaries popped up every day. Do I allow myself to eat so much, or take pleasure in a moderate amount of deliciousness? Do I stay in certain people’s negative energy, or do I excuse myself to be free of it? Of course you don’t need to be on a cruise ship to learn this.

We experienced so much kindness. The staff was genuine and welcoming. The local people we met were patient and accommodating, especially when there was a language barrier. It was humbling. It was a cause for pause - am I that patient when others don’t understand? When we left Ota, Hokkaido, a group of young Taiko drum players gave us a hearty send off. It was very moving. They do this for every cruise ship that leaves its shores! It was a testament of goodwill.

23 days at sea offered a lot of time to ponder. I have become even busier since retiring than when I was working 40 hours a week. I wonder how I used to fit my job in! This cruise helped me to see that there needs to be a balance of doing and BEing. It’s not just important, it’s imperative. I don’t want to be too busy to miss the beauty around me. DOing is not living, BEing is. To be brutally honest, I feel compelled to keep so busy so I can validate my existence. Does that ring true for you too? Culture, environment, and training all play a part in that. But is that statement TRUE for any of us? NO! TRUTH says our worth is found in who we are, not what we do.

So I wish you rough seas so you can appreciate smooth seas. May you rest, speak up, allow beauty and kindness to bless you. Most importantly, may you know you don’t have to do anything to be worthy, may you find happiness in each day.