Living the life before you

It would have been no big deal to you, I'm sure, but to me, well, I have strange struggles.

Last week, when I was driving my family across Ohio on our trip to Wheeling, W.Va., we stopped at the little town of Russells Point. We bought some drinks and used the facilities at McDonald's, where a map of the neighboring Indian Lake was posted. And by neighboring, I mean, the lake was lapping at a dock not four feet from the north door of the restaurant.

What was unusual (for me) was what happened next. Instead of jumping into the van and focusing on the completion of the task at hand -- driving across the state -- I allowed myself to be spontaneous.

We drove off U.S. 33 and wound our way around a road that followed a string of islands into the center of Indian Lake. We drove across five or six islands, all connected by short bridges and packed with lake homes along the shores. We couldn't even see much water, but it was fun looking at the houses and admiring the boats that we could see.

The little adventure was refreshing and gave us a bit of a lift for the remainder of our trip.

Later in my life, when I forget how fun a small amount of spontaneity can be, remind me of my little story.