Rebel Talk: Alterations (Part Deux)
Some battles you don’t choose.
They choose you.
Mine was with a dock.
If you read the first “Alterations” post, you know the history—my long-running feud with that heavy, stubborn, injury-causing beast of a dock. You know about the day it got the best of me, taking a chunk out of my leg and leaving me hobbling, bleeding, and thinking: Why do I keep fighting this thing?
It wasn’t just wood, bolts, and metal anymore. It had become a symbol—one of frustration, dread, and negativity. Every time I stepped onto it, I felt that injury all over again. Not physically… but in my head.
And here’s the truth about life:
If something steals your peace every time you touch it, it’s costing you more than you think.
The problem was… replacing it wasn’t in the plan.
I didn’t want to spend the money.
I told myself, “It’s still functional. I can make it work. I’ve done it before.”
Sound familiar? That’s how we talk ourselves into living with things—big or small—that we know are dragging us down.
A relationship.
A job.
A habit.
A dock.
We think avoiding change is saving us something. In reality, it’s costing us more every day we delay.
So I did it.
I pulled the trigger and replaced it with a new, modern, lightweight roll-in dock.
No more wrestling with steel beams.
No more limping away after a losing round.
No more curse words whispered under my breath every time I needed to move it.
And the first time I stepped onto it… the weight I felt lift wasn’t just under my feet. It was off my mind. The negative energy was gone.
Funny thing is, I thought that new dock would just be about making my life easier.
But then I saw something I didn’t expect.
My youngest son—the one who’s never really been into fishing like his older brother—walked out to the very end, picked up a pole, and started casting.
No prompting. No convincing. Just a kid deciding that maybe this new dock was worth hanging out on.
And in that moment, it hit me:
Sometimes, small changes alter more than your own experience—they ripple out to the people around you.
Here’s the takeaway,
If there’s something in your life that poisons your mindset every time you face it—remove it. Replace it. Alter it.
Don’t cling to the old, heavy, difficult version just because it’s “still usable.”
If it’s costing you your peace, it’s already too expensive.
Sometimes the fix is simpler than we make it.
Sometimes all it takes is a little change to unlock a completely different feeling.
And every now and then, if you’re lucky, that change will lead to a moment—like your kid picking up a fishing pole—that tells you, without question:
You made the right call.
Life’s too short to stand on a dock that makes you hate the water.
Alter it.
Lighten it.
Step forward.
Stay Relentless,
Ryan
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