Welcome to Beatitude!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – attributed to Mark Twain

Cindy and I have charted  a new course for our future: Selling everything (well almost) and sailing away.  This idea was first planted in my impressible mind on a flight back from the Evangelical Philosophical Society annual meeting held in Providence, RI in November, 2008.  Sitting next to me was a gentlemen who had just retired from the Air Force and was on his way to Tampa to meet his family and move aboard a sailboat for retirement.  Although I knew virtually nothing about sailing, I thought,”What a wonderful idea!”  For the next several years the thought of retiring on a sailboat remained somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind as a cool idea, an amazing life, but not something I seriously entertained as being part of any realistic plan for my future.  Although I was born in Atlanta, GA, we took nearly yearly vacations to the Gulf beaches and I loved the sand and water.  For the past 12 years, I’ve been a Floridian and have always been the one in the family who has suggested going to the beach more than others.  Cindy and I love travel and have been blessed to visit Europe and the Caribbean on multiple occasions.  In retrospect, the idea of retiring on a sailboat was quite logical (as illogical as the idea of anyone living on a sailboat may seem to some).

After three years of percolation, the idea bubbled to the surface during a difficult time at work.  Medicine, at times, seems less and less about taking care of the patient and more and more about meeting goals, jumping through hoops, and making sure the patient is “satisfied” and “happy.”  A lawsuit, which was eventually settled, didn’t help my frame of mind.  The political climate of the country and the direction that I saw it going compounded my depression.  (By the way, I’m coping fairly well now.  Of course, the carrot of sailing away into the wide open seas and living in tropical paradises doesn’t hurt one’s mental state.)  One day, over a year ago, I casually mentioned to Cindy that I  would love to cut back on shifts or retire early and buy a boat, move aboard, and sail away.

Let’s just say that she was not as receptive to the idea as I was.  She and I will both post to this site so you will be able to read her initial (and ongoing) feelings in her own words.  God has blessed me with with a remarkable wife.  We met in college in St. Paul, MN in the 70s.  When she married me in 1979, she thought she was committing to a life of ministry as the wife of a pastor.  It turns out, she did commit for 14 years of that.  Then 7 years of full-time college for me.  Then 3 years of residency.  Then a decade plus of being the wife of a physician.  And now… well, now she has, at first reluctantly, and now with slightly more enthusiasm agreed to come along with me on our next adventure.  You can read a little bit more about us on The Crew page.  There is a lot more I will say about our preparations for such a move in future posts.  For now, you can read a little about our future “home” here.

I expect that primarily (at least at first) this blog will be followed by family (and a few friends).  I and my wife will express our joys and frustrations and hope to be a help to someone else who is thinking of doing something crazy like this.  You will gain insight from one member of the crew who is enthusiastically embracing this change and another who is approaching this future life with a little (or a lot) more timidity.  Our posts will be geared to family, friends, and future cruisers. Enjoy!

5 thoughts on “Welcome to Beatitude!

  1. Barry, I thought you and Cindy might enjoy a nautical poem I wrote a few years ago, having kept the ingredients hidden among thoughts of days in the U.S. Navy serving on two different ships during the early fifties. by Russ Kincaid July 8, 2004
    MARINER RHYME
    (Knots & Kinks)
    Frustration’s the ploy; Disorder’s the plot!
    Rogue devils they be What tangle the lot!
    Whip a garden hose kink; Tame a power cord knot!
    One the arm may subdue Though the other it cannot.
    So memorize with delay My mariner rhyme from yesterday.
    ‘Worm and parcel with the lay; Turn and serve the other way.’
    This staid nautical procedure Guides to stow foul gear aright.
    Belies the lack of good demeanor E’er kindly patience takes ‘er flight.

  2. Thanks, Jonathan, for your kind words. They are received gratefully. My table-tennis table is waiting for our table-tennis tangle in my home (for now before I sell it!).

  3. Reverend Dr. Carey, I remember when I finally made the move to attend Bible College. I was 24 starting to finally find some of my bearings in life. I remember the early stages of the internet and finding your wifes AIM name, something to the realm of wifeofdoc2b. I recall sitting in spare bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment at 1814-D Noe Bixby Lane, in Columbus OH, thinking that it is never too late in life to make a change. I was 24 and felt life was all about over. You have inspired me over the years and I share your story to many, especially to the it is never too late to go back to school, and to the if you don’t like your situation, change it, crowds. I will be sure to read your journey. And before you travel too far, I would love to tangle in table-tennis, just one more time.

  4. Barry, I’m so excited for you and Cindy and will certainly be following both your blogs! I can live vicariously through you both… okay? Blessings -Candy

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