Our first night in Monterey found us at a hotel that I booked by mistake. I thought I'd booked us into a hotel we'd stayed at in June that was affordable and perfect for us. Instead, I booked us into a hotel by the same name, in a less desirable location of Monterey (yes, even Monterey has "less desirable" locations!). Our first clue? Might have been the adult book store and theatrically dressed ladies of the night standing outside, just two doors down from our hotel. Hmmmmmm. Phil, the eternal optimist who sees the glass nearly full every day of his life, said, "well, look at it this way, we are in the theatre district".
We stayed in the room one night, but not the four nights we'd booked. How liberating to decide that we didn't need to stay there just because we'd already booked it. This mistake led to a night in Santa Cruz, a location that we hadn't even planned in advance. But the freedom to decide to put the pin on the map and stay where we wanted was fun. We also spent two other nights in another lovely hotel in Monterey - great location, wonderful people and perfect for what we needed.
Lots of other mistakes on the trip led to fun adventures. A few years ago, I might have deliberated more about the downfall of my mistakes. Now I see them as golden opportunities to change my life for the better. I should have realized this long ago, as I've always felt I've become stronger from my mistakes and learned lessons. Life is about learning and changing, about reinventing ourselves. It's about the joy of what's not planned.
Mistakes, yep, bring them on! I love my life, which is full of mistakes, but richer for the experiences I've had.
Stay tuned, lots of great things are happening all around me!
