We recently drove cross country—from Atlanta, to Kentucky (to visit John’s parents and one of his sisters and her family), and then to Utah—as part of our recent move. Unlike other cross country drives we’ve done in the past, John and I were not driving together. No. He drove his truck and I drove my Pilot.
Just thinking about a 28-ish hour drive is daunting. Doing that 28-ish hours alone? Even more daunting. Especially since the past few weeks had been full of all the move-related stress which, for me, also meant difficulty sleeping. Which adds a whole other level of daunting to that 28-ish hour drive.
So, I knew I had to come up with something to help make those 28-ish hours as pleasant and enjoyable as possible.
Enter…a new favorite soundtrack!
Before I go much farther, if you haven’t read any of my other favorite soundtracks posts or don’t know what a soundtrack is, “soundtracks” is a term coined by one of my favorite authors, Jon Acuff, and they are those repetitive phrases that invade our thoughts. They can be positive soundtracks that serve us, or they can be broken soundtracks which do not serve us and often hold us back from achieving our goals and becoming who we want to become. I’ll share links to my other soundtracks posts later just in case they might help you because they have really helped me!
Anyway.
“It’s an adventure!” was the soundtrack I decided to try out for the trip, and it worked great! Granted, the drive from Atlanta to Kentucky, which we’ve made more times that I can count, was pretty boring. The stop at Buccee’s in North Georgia helped, for sure. But once we left Kentucky and for the rest of the trip, when I’d find myself getting bored, or a bit fatigued, or tired of driving, I’d say that soundtrack to myself, and it really did help! It reminded me to view everything around me—scenery I hadn’t seen since our last cross country drive when Kailen was 1 year old (she’s 26 now)—as new and exciting and to look for all the amazing things that God has created.
That soundtrack turned what could’ve been an agonizing 28-hour drive into something that I look back on fondly. No, I’d rather not make that drive again anytime soon, but it went much better than I’d hoped. It also helped that I had some of my favorite success (nonfiction) books on Audible and a ton of my favorite podcasts saved to listen to.
What’s a soundtrack that could help you through something difficult right now? It really can make a world of difference!
Check out these other soundtrack-related posts!
It’s Just Data | One of My Favorite Soundtracks for Overthinking
New Seasons Deserve New Scorecards | Another Favorite Soundtrack
I try and repeat “It’s all part of the adventure!” when we have hiccups in life. I cross my fingers and hope that it makes a good story in the future. And so many things have made good stories, after the fact.
Love this! One of my favorite authors also says, “It’ll either be a success or a story.” I like that one too. 😉