It seemed pertain to Jon and I. Start completely over with our life. Risk all our investments. I'm not just talking about our house, cars and possessions. Although that comes into play as well. I mean risking our relationships. Can our relationships handle the change. It is a huge risk. Now most of you know that I am an opptimiss. (Just a little bit.). So as we were in the planning stage of our life-change, I felt very confident of our relationships...including Jon and my relationship. Now eight months into it I seem to want to go over it again.
Christmas was totally different than before. No family at all. Our children opted to return to their home town and spend it with the rest of their family there. So silly I thought they would be with us. I'm not sure I want that again this year. Oh Jon and I had a nice time in St Augustine. It is a beautiful (village like) city with white lights in all the trees, along the water and on the bridge. We walked to Christmas Eve service and I helped at a soup kitchen the day after. We met some really nice people. At least one couple we traveled with later and had lots of fun. But we missed our children and friends terribly. Maybe what I'm risking will be making new traditions. Risking family tradition. Finding peace in new ones. Whatever they may be. Side note here: Sara and Aaron flew to Miami on the first of March and stayed on the boat with us for seven days. It was wonderful. They got to see a glimpse of our lifestyle and we had a chance to find out what was happening in their lives.
What risks are there for the friends we have made on our life. A lot of our friends have embraced and enjoyed our departure from the "norm". They read our blog, catch us one Facebook and call often. Some are. Simply crushed by our departure and don't engage at all. We are looking toward a time when our friends will call and tell us they are coming for a visit. After all, what good is it if we can't share this with the ones we treasure the most.
Risk independence. You are basically totally dependent on each other on a sail boat. You have to be able to work together to make things run smoothly and safely. Communication and working as a unit or team is essential. This changed the way we relate to each other during stressful situations. We learned early on that keeping cool and giving each other full attention and support makes the situation seem a lot better.
But what about coming and going. We are together almost 24/7. Am I risking my indepence. Because we anchor out a lot or grab a mooring ball, we have to use a dingy to come and go from the boat. Since we only have one dingy, we usually travel together. Because I haven't mastered the dingy I don't go off by myself. Especially since the motor has been temprental--Jon has had to work on it every other day. Therefore tend to depend on each other a lot more for every day things like grocery shopping and just playing cards. I can't just take off and go look for underware and bathing suits. It would depend on his time. Perhaps this is my challenge and risk failure. To master mechanical things like the dingy motor. Or purchase a kyack to come and go. It isn't just a space dependence. It is also a financial dependence. Since we have no incoming paycheck , we are careful with each purchase. So...no independent purchases. (Well it's not like we're looking over each others shoulder on each purchase..but..we each certainly take "pause" and are more cautious with most purchases. )
Ok and what about risking our spiritual growth. We certainly don't attend Sunday services very often. However, some things are amazing. Jon and I are able to talk and have conversations, even discussions, about the bible and about God. That never happened before! We are in a place in our relationship where we can explore some of our thoughts and misgivings about religion and Christianity. But I don't have the group of individuals I could trust to study with. Not that they aren't available by phone or text. But we haven't found a good medium yet to have studies and explore our revelations and insights. Just change again...risking putting myself out there to others...finding a fit for my new lifestyle. Being open enough to what God might have right in front of me.
Risk comfort...we don't exactly have a full size bathroom..however I have to say our shower stall and water pressure are perfect. Our bed is not exactly Posturepedic. It is a v-birth that is a king size at the top and a single at the bottom....boat cushions with memory foam on top. (Right now I sleep in a hole with the feeling of board underneath.). We have fans, but no air conditioning or dehumidifiers. On those hot humid night, no one gets much sleep. Everything is wet. (Luck has it I can nap about any time I want.). Thank goodness for the breeze that seems to come off the water most nights. Again these are things we can work on our get used to. How about comfort during a storm.
Do all these risks outweigh my desire to live on our sailboat, be self-suffient, spend less money on non escencials, spend more time in nature and with my husband, explore in and under the waters near the United States, push myself to try different things, be more athletic, redefine how we earn money and enjoy the new relationships we might make? No it does not outweigh it. It just makes me pause, write "on and on" about it, 
take a breath and be great full for the time I have to find out a long the way. 
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