External and Internal Adventures

It is interesting how it took traveling to the other side of the world for me to find that the journey had in fact lay within the whole time. Though we have definitely beheld many a beautiful sight in multiple beautiful lands, the fact remains that the tangible accomplishments of the trip itself pale in comparison to the personal internal growth that has enhanced my conscience and deepened my heart and soul.

Somewhere inside me I always knew that this was the case, however denial lead me to believe that it was the doing that would set me free, that would open my mind, that would show me the way. I have come to understand that such is not the case. Travel is a hobby; a unique one perhaps, but a pursuit that requires time and money in order to effect, just like any other hobby. It is something that we ultimately choose over other possible investments of our time and resources. Any hobby, pursuit, interest, or activity that we love can lead us to the discovery of new things within our person. We are amazing creatures, and our potential far exceeds what our imagination could ever envision. Sometimes we need to run after those things that fascinate us, those things that fulfill us and make us come alive! Travel was one of the things that at some point evoked in me a desire for more out of life, and so I followed it here to Australia. For a time it proved fulfilling, but just like any other pursuit, I am looking forward to a change, to traveling back toward the United States and the perennial warmth and comforts of home, family, and old friends.

What inspires you to live when you think about it? What invariably makes you laugh or inevitably leads you to cry? I believe that these are the ways in which God shows us the paths it would behoove us to follow. It is through the passion of emotion, through the joy of activity, the thrill of experience, the accomplishment of goals, major or minor, that our eyes are opened to our talents and abilities, and fear is left behind.

I had to go to the other side of the world, but perhaps it would only take you going into your back yard and chopping wood, coaching a volleyball team, riding a bike, taking meals to senior citizens and handicapped persons, taking communion to the ill, visiting the dying, praying for those who do not love you. Each one represents a way to seek the things which make us come alive. When we find them, I believe that we must seek to incorporate them into our lives in one way or another. And then we will have a constant flow of inspiration and hope to lead us through the sometimes incredibly joy-filled, and at other times depressed stages of our lives.

The things that you need to pursue to make your life extraordinary may lie right in front of you. I in many ways dreaded setting out on this journey, but thanks to my parents pushing, and friends' encouragement, we did it! We left, and I cannot, nor would ever want to go back. I cannot unlearn the lessons I have taken from what I have seen, experienced, and lived in the past several months. In the coming time I hope to recount a number of experiences that will demonstrate just how great God can be, if we only open ourselves to His will in our lives. If you feel drawn to something, and you can see no moral or practical reason why you should not pursue it, for your own sake DO IT! Cower not before the pursuits that can make your life extraordinary!