Weekend Motivation 83

I had another picture and another inspirational message already picked out for this week and then something happened that doesn’t happen a whole lot to me. So I decided to change it out because even though it was a little thing for a lot of people it turns out it’s a really big thing for me. This week I realized that I kinda rock at hooking up and unhooking a trailer in fact I’m totally comfortable doing the whole thing the very first time I had too. The same is NOT true of backing one up but maybe in time…

We put our boat in this week, brrrr I know but float season is upon us and the boys left the slipway in the boat and I was left to deal with the trailer by myself. The plan was that I would stash it at a friend’s house for the day so I wouldn’t have to drag it with me all day running around from one customer’s house to another. I work with my partner and he was all like “are you sure you can do that?” and I had no hesitation in being all “I got this!” But what’s really special is why I was so confident. In fact at the end of the day I even volunteered to pick it back up by myself and stash it at home before I finally picked up two very cold boys.

I realized when I was unhooking it that this is something my Dad taught me. We used to go ‘camping’ in a tow behind trailer and I was almost always the one with my dad when he hooked it up. Even a quarter century later that knowledge is still with me. I know about the chains, the ball lock, the wiring harness and how to test my lights before heading out. Not a big deal to some but writing this actually makes me a bit teary. That’s because I don’t have a long list of things my Dad got to teach me and even fewer that continue into adulthood. He unfortunately died very early in my life and he was pretty sick before that. So he didn’t teach me how to ride a bike, start a lawn mower, drive a stick or make his famous chowder but I did figure most of that out eventually too. Instead of this making me sad today it made me so grateful that I had discovered something I never realized until now that he had passed on and that felt pretty special! I never would have had that realization had I not been open to new challenges and that’s kind of a lesson in itself too.

So this weekend while you’re out there take some time to be grateful for someone who taught you something you still find useful. It could be the person who taught you all about running, how to ride a bike, tie a tie or hook up a trailer even better if that person is your Dad too!