Fast Pass to Disney World

I haven't written anything in a very long time for a lot of reasons.  Mostly because:

• I'm not pregnant and therefore find it pointless to post weekly pics of my stomach's progress.
• I don't have any cute kids learning how to walk (or sit, or smile, or wear funny glasses...)
• I don't have incredibly innovative craft ideas that I know everyone wants to copy!
• I haven't invented any totally-healthy-yet-completely-delicious recipes recently.
• I haven't had any earth-shatteringly brilliant insights worth sharing.
• I haven't been on any jealousy-inducing vacations lately.
• I love reading all my friends and family member's blogs for the aforementioned reasons and didn't think anyone really cared to read about my silly single-girl adventures.

And last but most significantly,

I discovered Pinterest.

In all seriousness, though, I haven't felt like sharing with the world (oh, who am I kidding... with my mama and cousins [the only people who ever read this anyway]!) the details of the last year of my life.  It has been one of the most eventful I've ever had, and yet I have found excuse after excuse not to write about it.

Well, I recently ended a very long and significant chapter in my life and am starting over.  And I HAVE had some brilliant insights lately!  Maybe not inspiring or applicable to everyone, but a big deal to me!  Earth-shattering enough to finally blog about...  

Let's be painfully honest for a minute (bear with me)... I have felt like I am getting "left behind" for about a year-and-a-half now.  I didn't feel that way for a long time after my divorce, but I have since watched every married friend I have have a baby (or 2!), every reluctantly single friend I have get married, every happily single friend I have fall in love, and every kid I've ever babysat get asked to prom!

It's like having everyone you know get one of those magic Fast Passes that are good for every ride at Disney World, while you're still on the interstate trying to get there...  "Back seat!  Middle!  Feet on the hump!!" ...all the way to Disney World (thanks, Brian Regan)!  ...You are so excited for the adventure ahead and are so anxious to get there, that you can't help but annoy everyone near you with your incessant "are-we-there-yets," which in your mind are merely a distraction from your main focus of killing time by playing the alphabet game (Aaron, Brock, Chandler, David...).

When you finally wake up from your uncomfortable face-smashed-against-the-window nap because the car stopped, you rub your eyes and look out the window to see (to your utter dismay) that the only welcome sign in view is the one at the Florida State line, still hundreds of miles away from your destination!!

And you thought road trips sucked as a kid!!

On my road trip, I have experienced the good, the bad, and the sweet spirits... flat tires, breath-taking sunsets, speeding too fast, travel buddies, road work, snacks, shortcuts, detours, pit stops, potholes, drive-thrus, hitchhikers, bugs on the windshield, and the wind in my hair!

But here's the thing about my road trip...  One day I WILL make it to Disney World!  I will get my fast pass!  I will scream on Tower of Terror and get soaked on Splash Mountain!  I will eat a Mickey bar!  Or two if I want (which I obviously DO)!  I will watch the parade and wave giddily at the princesses like a 6-year-old girl!  I will wait in line to see the Mouse himself!  And I will most certainly experience those magical fireworks that are so spectacular they take my breath away no matter how many times I've seen them!

It may be taking forever to get there, but I am on my way to the Happiest Place on Earth!  There is a ticket with my name on it!  And there is a particularly darling boy holding that ticket who CAN'T WAIT to explore the park with me either!!  I have no idea what potholes and speed bumps he had to face to get there, or how many hitchhikers he picked up along the way!  For all I know, he has been standing outside that gate for years, patiently waiting on ME to get my car into the right gear.  Maybe he's even scoured the parking lot a time or two, looking for me.

But the bottom line of my brilliant insight is this: when I do finally step through that ticket queue, it won't matter how long or frustrating the road trip was to get there.  I won't care at all.  And every engine repair will have been worth it.  Because when the time comes, I will have my very own magic Fast Pass that's good for every single ride in The Place Where Dreams Come True.  And I'll have an incredibly dashing best friend to share it with...  And the best part of all?  THAT park never closes!!

"Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be.  Don't think that you've lost time.  There is no short-cutting to life.   It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now.  And now is right on time."

~Asha Tyson