This week, we have had the opportunity to go out into the community of Mamelodi and promote a school that we will be having for the kids in a few weeks and it has been so much fun. We went to the church that Pastor Ezekiel, a friend of Erika and Louis, runs. As soon as we pulled into the gate we were greeted by about thirty teenagers who all introduced themselves to us and taught us about 15 different handshakes. They took us to a soccer field that was just made of dirt and told us that we were going to play with them because they wanted us to have the experience. Being the skilled athlete that I am, I was just going to watch, but they put me in the position of a Defender no matter how many times I protested. I only had the chance to kick the ball twice and needless to say, I missed it both times so badly that one of the guys asked me if there was something wrong with my legs.
After my MVP worthy performance, they told us that we were going to walk to another field to play against a team from a different community. On the way there, I walked with a guy who was a senior in high school and he was asking me about my life at home and what I did there. I never learned his name, but he helped me have such a DUH moment during our conversation that I’m pretty sure those twenty minutes will stick with me for a long time.
He asked me, “So what do you do at home? For a job?” I told him that I had just graduated from school and then I came on the Race right after.
“I would love to travel as well. I want to see the United States just to see how the American people live. I have thought about going to University too,” he told me. “What did you study?” I told him I studied politics and that he should travel if he wants to because it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
“Politics are good,” he said. “You learn about everything.” I asked him what he would study if he went to University and he told me, “I don’t know, I thought about studying cultures and geography, but I do not think I will really go.”
At this point in the conversation he had a very stressed expression on his face like he was having some kind of internal battle. I asked him why he wouldn’t go and he said, “I really want to go and do something, but what if I fail? Then what will I do?”
I really wish I could tell you that I gave him some stellar pep talk about how he won’t fail if he tries or that I gave him some wise piece of advice about chasing his dreams, but I didn’t. I just nodded my head in agreement and said, “yeah , it’s scary to not know,” and then we walked the rest of the way to the field in silence. I wish I could have said something a little bit more meaningful or hopeful, but I was just so stunned that someone who lives half-way around the world would have the exact same fears that I have dealt with my entire life.
It’s crazy how the fear of failure translates across continents and cultures. It’s always there in the back of everyone’s mind no matter where you live, how much money you have, or how many chances you take. The thing that I’m still learning is, that no matter how many times you fail, in the process you’re learning things that are going to help you succeed in the future. So if you never take a risk and fail, you’re probably never going to succeed at anything later on either. It’s crazy how God puts these moments in my life to connect the dots on things that are so simple. I had to come half-way across the world to have this conversation with a guy whose name I don’t even know just to have something click in my brain that people plaster all over posters and encouragement cards back home. It blows my mind every morning when I wake up in a different place and I am so incredibly blessed to be exactly where I am, no matter how many failures I’ve had in order to get me to this point.
