PDY

Last Monday, Jan 5th, twenty-twenty, was the official first day of my new life. Well, every day pretty much is, but some are more than others! My luxurious year twenty-nineteen came to an end and is being replaced by yet another year that promises to be full of change. I had every intention of writing this last Monday in the present, and then came Tuesday, and so on until today, when I just carved out some precious time and here I am, but I’ve been busy, and most of my time is being spent lining things up and learning quite a bit in the process. There are lots of different angles and possible outcomes, we shall see…

It was exactly five months ago today that I walked out of Zilker Park. Today I walked through it, and though I really hadn’t planned on it, I walked right up to my tree. Remember my tree? Five months ago today…  and so so much has happened since. It’s barren for the winter, but looks OK, my tree that is. I walked about 11 more miles after waypoint tree, and it gave me a nice chance to just rewind for a while and look back on my trip to Imagine.

My little walk to the park has given me a really cool collection, a superb collection of memories. And yes, I stand by all my previous statements about living and being in the present, but every so often it’s fun to go back there, especially if it takes you back to a happy place. It’s kind of interesting to notice the things one remembers out of the billions of things we’ve seen in our lives. I am very fortunate in that I have a very short memory when it comes to negative or bad stuff, whereas the opposite is true when it comes to the positive and happy experiences, and those I remember forever. Sadly, there are many people out there that’ll hold on to negative memories forever and the good ones vanish quickly. Not fun.

And though relatively recent, it makes me happy to think back, if only for a couple of months. The views, I love remembering the views, especially in the mountains. The trees, and the amazing colors. The roads, the farms. The breeze and the smells, of which I only remember the good ones. And oddly, or not, I can’t clearly remember the pain, and the blisters, and the fatigue. I know full well I was hurting, especially that first month, and I know I got really tired, but I don’t remember that very well either. Ah but the views, clear as could be.  And the people, oh the people. I’ve smiled to myself many times since I’ve been back, thinking about the words, insights, the smiles and the offers to help. Needless to say, I had a great walk today. I’m really looking forward to going back and reading my daily posts. I’ve only seen the three I read to my Mom, so those I know, but am very curious about how the rest will look and feel. I may or may not report.

And now back to the present, the now. I’ve been thinking a lot about human adaptability, starting with my own. So I now live in Austin, TX. I got here five weeks ago today kicking and screaming, after the most incredible experience of my life, to a room full of boxes, to a new urban environment. No damn wonder I got depressed 😊! But tonight, I’m pleased to say that things have settled down, at least on the home side. I have adapted to my current living and life conditions. Are they perfect? Nothing is, but no. Are they ideal? Not even, but they work for now. They were chosen, which if not always the case, and for which I’m grateful. The good thing is that they’re not permanent. It is a planned steppingstone to whatever comes next.

But I’ve adapted, (v) form of adaptability (n), defined as “the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions”. And I find it amazing to think about how adaptable (a) people are, either by choice or by force. Think of the hundreds of thousands of different environments on earth. Different climates, different geography, different economic conditions, different educations, different political regimes. And combine all of those and you have all these little and big environments with only one thing in common, and that is people, humans. And they all seem to have adapted fairly well to their conditions, the life situation in which they find themselves.

Obviously there are many levels of adaptability, and reasons for it. Millions have had to adapt to new lives after being chased out of their home countries or thrown in prison. Others have overcome natural disaster and terrible diseases. Adapting here might mean surviving or not. Having not had to face such a change, I can’t imagine or write about it knowledgeably, and of course my little adaptation is peanuts in comparison. People have adapted to lost fortunes, to stock market crashes and depressions. They might not want to, but eventually will have to. it’s that wanting to that’s important, and knowing when you have to, for sometimes you have no choice.

We adapt to any and everything, all the time. New situations, physical limitations and changes, you name it, and we have an incredible power to adapt. The only thing that holds us back is ourselves, and it’s mostly in our minds. There are of course some limitations; you’re not going to live very long in an Alaskan winter without shelter, or in the Sahara without water, but I think we can adapt to many things we never thought possible, given the chance.

Most adaptations in life aren’t quite that drastic. I am mostly referring to the hundreds of smaller ones, many of which go unnoticed, but are equally important, and I believe, very conducive to happiness. If you adapt to your situation or condition, I think you have a much better chance of being happy and content. If you don’t, you’ll constantly be fighting the situation itself, and it’s hard to be fully happy when you’re at war.

Now this isn’t to say that one adapts and that it, you’ve made it, and oh, you’re stuck. No, not at all. It’s a constantly moving process, and it’s a constant series of adaptations. And they mustn’t be confused with “settling”. By no means should you settle, adapt yes, but if you’re in a place you don’t like, you have the power to change it, and in the meantime, or if you can’t change it right away, better to adapt as best you can.