When Life Slows You Down—For a Reason

Smelling the roses, even if it slows you down

Your health is a tricky thing, especially if you’re an otherwise healthy adult like I am. Without sounding ungrateful, I think it’s something that we naturally take for granted. When you’re healthy, you sometimes forget that we’re not invincible, or at least I did.

On May 22nd I went into the ER for some abdomen pain that I thought was going to be something simple. In fact, I nearly didn’t go in but my wife convinced me otherwise, so away we went. After a few blood tests and a quick CT scan the doctor determined that my Appendix was inflamed and needed to come out. Good news though, it hadn’t ruptured yet. At this point I was under the impression that I would be back in action in a few days. I had even gone so far as to line up a golf cart for Ultimate Callout Challenge the following weekend because I was convinced that I was going to be there for my favorite event of the year. Boy was I wrong.

What I thought was going to be a quick in and out procedure ended up taking nearly 4 hours, and I spent a total of 10 days in the hospital. Even now as I write this, I’m still recovering. Unfortunately, this also means that I missed Ultimate Callout Challenge in 2025, and the parts mountain that I have for the LBZ is still in my garage.

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While it is super disappointing that things slowed down and I missed the event, it’s a gentle reminder that we are, after all, only human. I think it also does a great job of making a guy slow down and think for a moment about life, friends, family, and how you’re taking care of yourself. For me especially, it was a great reminder that as fast as I ran in life, I’m not invincible. It reminded me to slow down and smell the roses, enjoy the journey, and most importantly, to not take a single day for granted.

Wherever you are when you read this, whatever you’re doing, I hope you remember that life is about the journey not the destination. So slow down, take the backroad, and enjoy the ride.

Until next time,

Dustin a.k.a. Dusti_LBZ