A couple of weeks ago, my beau and I took a trip to Southern California to attend a big family party for his aunt’s 75th birthday. Yeah auntie Barbara and Happy Birthday. While there I got to have lunch with my very fine son, which was a fabulous bonus to the trip. It was a warm sunny day and we went down to Second Street in Long Beach. Lovely day near the beach, good food, great company, who could ask for anything more? I even had a short time to visit with my lovely older sister. (You’re looking good, sis.)

For various work related reasons we were in Southern California for less than 24 hours. It takes about six hours to drive there from the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, so it’s reasonable to ask; why go so far for such a short visit. Answer; Because it was worth it.

It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.

On the way home we stopped at Harris Ranch along I5. I’ve always wanted to go there but have always passed it by in favor of trying to get home as fast as possible on that long, straight stretch of interstate highway, but this time we stopped, and I’m glad we did.

We left early Sunday morning and we stopped at Harris Ranch for a late breakfast. The place is all about good ole cowboy charm and big steaks. Since it was breakfast, I passed on the steaks. Instead, I had something else that is a specialty on their menu, almond pancakes. Yummers, they were good. I only had the short stack and it was still too much to eat, but every mouth full was delightful.

My beau and I decided we would ‘pretend’ that our short turn-around trip was actually an exciting get-away to a far away land. We had fun going to a place I have not been to before and eating the ‘local’ food. It was very much like when we really do travel to far away places, like Europe, only in our own backyard (so to speak). The trip felt special, and it was – because Perception is reality and Attitude is everything.

It’s all about what’s in your heart that counts. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Instead of looking at this trip as too short, draining, a lot of driving time for a little fun time we choose to look at the trip as a great way to spend time together before beau went away on a business trip for a long week. We choose to see the trip as an opportunity to see friends and family and to try new things. We used the trip to try something new as if we were visitors from some far off place, new to this area, and experiencing it for the first time.

And you know what happened?  We laughed, we played, and we had fun.

May you find ways to bring fun and romance into everyday (or almost everyday) of your life. May you enjoy NOW, because if you can enjoy now, you can Enjoy Always. …. T

And have fun.