Regardless of what we put on paper in our neat, numbered lists, the only priorities that matter are the ones measured by our choices in the middle of challenges and unexpected disruptions. In fact, each surprise, each unplanned challenge, is a priority audit.

Lyn and I recently returned from two weeks of sailing. It was planned as a vacation trip with good friends. We were moving the catamaran, "Knot on Call," from Tortola, BVI to it's new home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We anticipated the only really challenging part of the trip would be the two-day, three-night sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Turks and Caicos Islands just south of the Bahamas; we were wrong.

When we left San Juan the weather was just as we anticipated, ENE winds at 8-12 knots. That was all about to change, but we didn't know it. Three days later our 42 ft catamaran was being kicked around by 30 knot winds and 20 ft swells. Although safety and survival were always on our priority list, now they shared the number one spot.

By the time we arrived at a peaceful harbor, we had a tear in the mainsail, a broken boom line, and a fuel pump and filter that refused to function. Fun had moved down the priority list.

Once our first set of surprises were fixed, we discovered a rip in the jib; it had to be sewn. Days and nights burled and sleep was rare. By the time we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, we had spent eight nights sailing all night, splitting shifts at the helm.

We learned you can eat Barracuda, you can catch fish using a driftwood stick as bait, and we experienced the reality that friendship is drawn closer and deeper by tackling unexpected and unplanned challenges, together. We had endured. In fact, endurance had become the priority.

Since our return, several have asked if we had fun. I wouldn't call it fun, but it WAS an adventure; one I will cherish for a lifetime. The surprises required us to be creative and innovative; and each new problem forced us to rethink priorities and values. In the end, it was good.

"Knot on Call" survived and is now resting in Fort Lauderdale. We not only endured, we lived the adventure and found in it a refreshed vision of life.

It was a priority audit and we are better for it.