366 days ago I got on a plane in Nashville and made my way to the Philippines.
I still remember making the final two phone calls from my cell in LAX before calling Verizon and suspending my line “for 11 months.”
I thought I knew what I was doing. I didn’t have a clue.
I remember that first month, September 2010, living in Manila, and spending a lot of time driving back and forth from the hospital.
I remember the adrenaline rush that accompanied each morning when I woke up 8,000 miles away from home and didn’t have a clue what was in store for the day.
The “good ole days” when we still had no idea what the Race was about, when we spent our days getting to know each other, and our nights secretly asking ourselves if we were really about to spend the next year traveling the world like a bunch of crazy people.
Fast forward 12 months and enter a man that has been newly born out of 11 months of ‘clay in the maker’s hands’ reshaping, brand new in a way, walking into the depths of a world he knows far too well.
What a crazy paradox.
You realize that your world stopped spinning for a year while THE world kept going without you.
That rush of adrenaline is often replaced with a feeling of loneliness; losing your family of 30 for a year is tough.
But it’s not all bad. In fact, life back here is pretty sweet.
There’s cars, paved roads, ice, A/C, nice clothes, showers, toilets, fast food, pizza, and Red Boxes.
And best of all, the people that you love more than anything are finally within arms reach.
Looking back at last September the one thing that sticks out to me more than anything is the word “beginning.”
It was a month of firsts; a month of fresh starts and new ideas.
As I began that journey I focused on what lied ahead, and it kept me going in those first few weeks.
I have spent my first 6 weeks back home forgetting that lesson, and I now find myself spiraling away from everything I absorbed on my Race.
But, if I learned anything, it’s that we have the power to call out our own shortcomings, and speak life back into those traps…turning pitfalls into Golden Gate Bridges.
So, here’s to new beginnings!
September 2010 was the beginning to a journey that forever changed my life.
September 2011 is the beginning to a journey that will forever change my life.
Sept. 11, 2010. Saying Goodbye for a year…
July 31, 2011. Saying Hello after a year!
