Over President’s Day weekend, Daniel and I went to Vancouver, BC for our friend’s 30th Birthday!
This simple weekend trip turned into a time for me to reflect on some of the major things I need to work on this Lent and throughout the year.
As soon as I started packing, last minute of course, I realized I had no concept of what to expect for the trip. I had definitely Pinterested 1000 things to do in Vancouver and checked out a few of my favorite local travel blogs so I felt like I knew what I wanted explore while I was there.
Lesson 1: You can’t plan for everything especially when you’re not traveling alone.
I’ve traveled so much for work and I’ve always been able to eat at my favorite restaurants and explore my favorite local spots and spend way to much time taking in a view. In a way I missed that, but I quickly realized how lucky I am to have Daniel and the friend group and to be able to do things together.
Plus they picked the best restaurants and activities!
Lesson 2: Dealing with challenges is so much easier with other people in your corner.
We got up early Sunday morning to sneak in some exploring time and we realized we had lost the keys somewhere on Saturday! Our friends helped us look all over and offered up tons of solutions that we hadn’t even thought of. Honestly, I was surprised at how composed I was and how great the day actually turned out.
I’m reading Pope Francis’ letter – The Joy of Love – and in referring to marriage he says, “Neither of the spouses will be alone in facing whatever challenges may come their way. Both are called to respond to God’s gift with commitment, creativity, perseverance and daily effort”
It reminded me how blessed we are to have such supportive friends and family around us not only for the good times, but for the difficult situations too.
We ended up driving back over the border to grab my spare key and my mom drove about an hour north to meet us, which saved a lot of time. On the way down we stopped for breakfast and we just had the best conversation.
Lesson 3: Sometimes a little alone time goes a long way.
I just had my performance review at work and my boss touched on something that I’ve noticed as a challenge. I’m an extrovert that works with a whole company of introverts.
I have to make an effort to see the way others experience the world and this trip it became blatantly clear. Sometimes it’s really overwhelming to be in a group of high energy people and instead of creating more energy it just feels draining. A quick walk outside was exactly what I needed. It was like hitting the reset button and suddenly I was eager to get back to the group and have more fun together.
Briana Ledesma 