CREATIVE THINKING: Sailing through life's rough patches

Looking out to sea, I could see the blurry image of an island in the distance. It didn't appear to be too far away. It looked like an Old Master painting set against the cloudless, clear blue sky and the Pacific Ocean.

I had always heard about the beauty of Catalina Island, off of California's coast, and I was excited to be going.

I have a terrible problem with vertigo and rides at the fair; the backseats of cars and boats have never been my friends. Our son, Blake, assured me the ride on the ferry to the island was a smooth one as he, his fiancée, Diane, Debra and I boarded the ferry.

We took our seats at the bow of the boat and settled in for what I thought was a short ride. The motors began to rev up and the throttle was pushed as we set sail for our day trip to the popular island. I tried to convince myself I wasn't moving and took a deep breath.

Up and down we bounced as the boat's steel bow sliced through each white-capped wave. There was no doubt the sea was a little choppy and I was getting sick. I had taken a vertigo pill prior to leaving and was depending on it to do its job.

Obviously, it wasn't working, so I placed my head between my hands and leaned over. Being seasick is a miserable feeling.

An older lady I didn't know was sitting beside me. She kept nervously peering in my direction. She finally reached down and moved her purse to her other side without even trying to pretend she needed something from it.

I glanced in her direction, even though the cabin was starting to spin. I couldn't resist giving her a look indicating I knew how unsubtle her move was.

About 20 minutes into our trip to Catalina Island, I decided the time had come for me to get some fresh air and possibly some sort of bag.

I asked Blake to steady me as we walked down the narrow aisle.

Nearing the back of the boat, one of the crew members handed me a black garbage bag and basically shoved Blake and me onto the open air stern of the vessel.

I welcomed the mist as it cooled the sweat-filled beads that appeared on my forehead as the color was leaving my face. With both hands, I firmly grabbed on to a rusty metal pole for dear life, trying to find balance and stop the erratic spinning.

I felt like I had been blindfolded, spun around and was desperately playing pin the tail on the donkey!

When I caught my breath, I slowly looked around to see where I was. Surrounding me were the other "sick" people who had randomly gathered, just like me, to seek fresh air and stillness. They were perched anywhere they could stand, clinching garbage bags and begging for mercy!

I felt comforted knowing I wasn't the only one who was having issues.

Every second seems like an eternity when your surroundings are spinning around and your stomach is completely unsettled. "Only 42 more minutes left to our destination," one of the crew members said with a touch of glee in his voice.

I raised my head slightly to ask Blake if he was kidding. Sadly, he wasn't.

We finally arrived not a minute too soon. Down the ramp I went in search of solid ground and planted my feet. Standing there surveying the gorgeous island, any breath I had left was taken away.

The terrible journey had brought us to paradise! I made the decision that I wouldn't allow my wooziness to spoil my enjoyment of all the beauty surrounding me.

Isn't this just the way life works? Sometimes in order for us to get to another place in our lives, we have to first endure the unsettled and rough patches along the way. Just like this trip, many times our journey takes longer than we expect, and is more difficult than we imagine. We have to hold on to something until we reach our destination.

My visit to Catalina Island was a great experience that I will never forget. As the sun started to sink and the air cooled a bit, I knew that in a matter of minutes I would have to once again board that boat to return to the mainland.

I took a deep breath and got back on the ship. If I could make it out there, I knew I could make it back!

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This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 9:48 PM with the headline "CREATIVE THINKING: Sailing through life's rough patches ."