Going On An Expedition And Strength

Expeditions are not a walk around. Strength is required. And Expedition means more than a simple hike. Strength is not born of long walks, it is born of tough hiking and climbing. I did not have the strength for my last expedition. My lack of strength made me a liability in our expedition. My elder son got me through the expedition and his strength got me through to living.

Now my lack of training properly has many excuses and reasons. Ones that all on the expedition agree with. Now that don’t cut no ice. That is sloppy on my behalf. Be ready for the easy but prepare for the hard. Life gives us roses but with them come thorns. I am serious here. I easy could have died but for my son.

Just get over it Eric, I was weak and he was strong. That is life. When you are strong reach out and help those weaker. And when you are weak reach out for the helping hand.

We do good to remember that wellness is only a platform for us to do better. Wellness is only a standard upon what we stand, forever to reach higher for helping a fellow man. We are not granted wellness to sit there upon our butt. Many are not well. So we get not dwell there. It is our job to do better than that. There is no cause to dwell in our wellness. There is only cause to help another into wellness so that they may obtain greatness.

Dang it, I fail. Perhaps I am a hypocrite. Perhaps I do not reach out enough. I did figure one time that my perfection is a goal and not a place. I have reconciled with that though it was tough.

Us Dierkers were raised and engrained with the notion the doing well only gave us the option to pass that on. I must declare that that notion sets us up for guilt and self-condemnation. Let it so be. If we pass the beggar without lending a hand let us feel guilty for that. If we do not call to reckoning the acts of each other then we fail them and ourselves. Correction of another is not a bad thing it is a required thing. Words are sometimes argued with and that is to be expected, but so is our love to point things out that may just be deleterious.

Perhaps God is great. But more so must our love for others be. I woke up this morning doing well. That is a good and glorious thing. I have woken up in jail that was not a good and glorious thing. Puking from chemotherapy is not a good and glorious thing first thing in the morning. So what are we to do with the gift of good and glorious? Well that is a no brainer. We are to pass it on. This is the good and glorious thing.

My good buddy since about 81’ had a stroke. We are fighting. And that is a good thing. How can that be good you ask? Well that is good because he is fighting with me. His health care plans are all eschewed and his stress level is way high. So he vents on me. How great is that? From my bottom line of wellness this is just fine and dandy. He hangs up the phone on me when I tell him he needs to get more tests and see the doctor. Isn’t that awesome, because of course we call each other again. The expedition of life is like that. Rocky roads and tough times.

I went a good time with no confrontation. How lame is that? Confrontation in love is where it is at. A buddy of mine, since 1977 had an issue. I called him on it in 1978 and just the other day he thanked me for it. What? A buddy of mine called me out around 1990 and it sticks well with me to this day. I cannot count the expeditions with my brothers. And they are with me today. Our journey is not to make easy, it is made to make us better.

I was tossing the football with my young son just last Saturday. He was distracted and throwing the ball crazy and I was having to dive for it. It made me stronger, even at my age. These tough things make us better. The expedition of Life makes us stronger and more ready to help others. This is not only the spice of life it is the whole and complete meal that our mother earth has provided us with.

I have this friend who helped me out when I was young. His name is Richard McCallum. Finer men there must be but I do not know one. Maybe later I will. He gave me some purpose and some discipline. Now in my early teens I really needed those. He pushed me out of a perfectly good boat into very cold water and told me to swim across one of the mightiest rivers in the world. Now we are talking an expedition that changed my life, probably for the better. I think I was 13 at the time. Perhaps my elder brothers are just of fine a man.

College back in my day was real fine. My professors were great guys. They took me onto an expedition that took me to a doctorate. They were brutal. But we played backgammon and drank coffee and brews in bars talking about Plato to Descartes until closing time. We were keen on civil rights but more keen on civil responsibility. I reckon they set me off on the expedition of life as an adult. I would tell my mom about such matters and she would shake her head, put on Harry Bellefonte and tell me to come back to earth. Really Harry was down to earth.

We do not do well around here. We dance. And we insist each day to make another’s better. We are not talking just regular fun around here. We don’t do that. How about a little dance with breakfast. OK we are nuts. You go be nuts over impeachment hearings. We are going to go crazy. This is a fact. We do happy and we do laughing at each other.

I heard about people who are stressed by the world affairs. I will leave my heart open to them. If I can help them then that is good thing.

I am going down to Mexico. Oh the food I will eat. I will park and then walk across the boarder. The rare rain has cleaned thing up. Just bless me Lord. No surfing down south. But we head north for the surf in a few days. This is right and a good couple of expeditions.

My children love road trips. Hanging with people who love to go on expeditions is awesome. Don’t look this way, it is my wives. I just like to travel. Paris for time, Hanoi for a bit, Mexico City maybe, maybe across our U.S. to live in New England and don’t mention Alabama or Texas. Venezuela and Melbourne. Expeditions are just part of the deal.

But the finest expedition is love. Perhaps I have traveled with too many fine women. I have never reached an a destination there