YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE

To celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary, my wife and I took a cruise to Alaska. One of the excursions we most looked forward to was Dog Mushers Sled Camp near Juneau. We learned about the dogs, sledding and, of course, the famous 1100 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Another thing was there for learning too, if anyone was interested.

I'm always amazed at the little moments that occur when we least expect them, as if the universe is reaching out to tell us something we need to hear. Here's one such moment:

After a spin around the dirt track on a modified-for-tourists dog sled, one of the camp crew, Josh, led us under a wooden pavilion to give us the history of dog sledding and the creation of the annual Iditarod Race by Joe Redington in the 1970s. The real lesson came during the question and answer session. Josh was asked how he, a boyish-looking young man, came to work as a musher up in Alaska.

Josh related that he had always promised himself that if he were ever to be laid-off from his factory job in his native Indiana, he would go to Alaska to find some adventure. Sure enough, the day came when he was suddenly unemployed. He sold everything he owned that couldn't fit into one piece of luggage and purchased a one-way plane ticket to Anchorage, in the heart of Alaska.

Once he arrived, he found trouble getting work. So he bought a rifle and a canoe and took to the river. During a stopover in Manley Springs, a place so small that everyone knew everyone else and it was easy to spot an outsider, Josh met Joe Redington, Jr. A professional musher, dog breeder and son of the famous Iditarod Race founder. "Ever thought about mushing?" Joe Jr. asked Josh. He replied, "Not really, but, hey, why not?"

Josh went to work for Joe Jr. helping raise and train the Husky dog-sled team that would race each year in the competition. Josh went on to become a musher himself. He bought some land in Manley Springs, bought some racing dogs for breeding and embarked on a whole new life. All because he had the courage to follow his dream: move to Alaska. Everything else flowed from that single jumping off point.

The lesson here is that it is possible to change your life and reshuffle the deck. It just takes enough nerve to consider what your next step will be and to follow through when that defining moment arrives. And I don't say that lightly. Josh left his family and friends behind. He set course down river and took a big leap of faith that he wouldn't drown along the way (both metaphorically and literally). Could you do the same? I know I can, I have and I will again.

Because, sometimes you can't there from here.

I'm just saying...