Road Trip in Sumbawa

I’ve been back in Sumbawa for almost a week now after a beautiful month in Bali recharging my batteries for teaching and for life. The last term of the semester was one of the most trying of my professional and personal life, and, to be honest, I barely made it through the long ten weeks.

But, being back with my family, being back in Singaraja, being back in Kampung Bugis, gave me the breathing space that I needed to re-evaluate my life and my priorities. Part of the problem was reconciling myself to the end of my brief retirement and the extension of my working life for another six months.

I’ve always been one for speaking in absolutes as my therapist once pointed out many years ago, and I’ve worked on modifying that mindset. The key point here is that absolutes negate the possibility for change, and my life has been a continual unfolding of change, a crooked path of zigzags and weaves, doubling back sometimes, leaping over logical progressions, and sometimes just moving in circles. But, all that has lead me here to Sumbawa and Bali; and this is the place right now where I am happy and, at least for this time, fulfilled.

The last vacation was eventful: my 60th birthday, my eldest daughter’s 18th birthday, a new granddaughter, a new closer relationship with my youngest son, and an accepting of some new limitations brought on by the aging process as well as the realization that there are still new possibilities ahead.

I’m content – what more can I ask for?