Why I do what I do

I have two very good reasons that keep me out here trucking everyday. The first is that trucking is just downright fun. The second is that it supports the first priority in my life, my family.

March 6th was my 34th wedding anniversary. I was sitting in Minnesota waiting on a load to be lined up to get me home. Being several hundred miles away from my wife, trucking didn't seem like so much fun.

For the last couple of years I've been coming to grips with the joy I derive from doing the work, the frustration of being separated from my family, and the need to earn a living. I usually sum these feelings up as my love & hate relationship with the trucking industry.

For quite some time after the birth of Nate, my grandson, I found myself in a deep funk when I went back out on the road. I developed a strong attachment to the idea that happiness only existed for me when I was at home with my family. Embracing this thought while I was driving brought me a great deal of misery.  But I did not recognize this at first. All I could see was that work was keeping me away from home and I felt that was the source of my discontent.

It was little Nate that reminded me of something I already knew. He showed me that peace, ease, and happiness in your life are found in the present moment. Little children have no knowledge of a past to live in. Little children do not spend any time fantasizing about the future. They spend all of their time in the present moment and delight in the sensory input of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

It's a good lesson to learn. Because having fun on the road is all about living in the present moment, no matter what the conditions. Worth thinking about.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Below you can see my wife Debbie and I all gaga over our newborn grandson Nate, me walking my daughter Mandy down the aisle, and Nate just a few days ago enjoying his apple slices.

I'm a lucky man. No doubt about it. I have three very good additional reasons to do what I do.