Pledge /plej/ noun: A solemn promise or undertaking.
One recurring question I heard at Training Camp was "Are you willing to fight for this team?" Many times they told us point blank that in order for your squad or team to work, sometimes you have to fight for it. You have to fight for feedback, fight for growth, and generally just fight for each other. I even heard this at church the day after I got back. Our pastor was talking about literal families, but it means the same thing. Every single time the leaders would ask if we were willing to fight, (I know cause I looked once or twice) everyone in the chapel or the squad or the team would nod enthusiastically.
Of course we were willing to fight! Look at all these amazing people we just met, our new friends and family! There's nothing that could keep us from fighting for one another, right?
Training Camp was amazing, if you've checked the World Race website at all over the past week you've read as much. But at times I sensed that it was a lot like what I called "The Honeymoon Period." We had just all been thrown into almost 24-hour interaction for a week. We got to know one another, came to love and respect one another, and became one giant family. Am I saying that this will not be true over the next year? Absolutely not. It's just much easier to agree to do the hard things when you haven't experienced them yet. It's easy to say yes to the difficult, rough things when they still seem so far away.
There's a reason they kept asking if we'd be willing to fight. The reason being, this will not be easy. It won't be a simple matter to live with the same people day in and day out for a year. It won't be a walk in the park to be open and raw with one another, especially when we'd like nothing better than to get away from all forms of interaction. No, nothing about this year will be easy. That's what makes it all worthwhile. The growth, the friendship, all of it. But here's where the reason I'm writing this blog comes in.
This post is my pledge to fight.
I'm pledging to fight for W Squad. I'm not talking about physical fights (I mean, unless absolutely necessary). I'm pledging to fight for the growth of my squad. I'm pledging to fight for the growth of my team. I'm pledging to push and prod until we're all open with one another. I will do everything in my power to make sure that feedback is strong and honest. That I won't let something go just because it would be easy or less awkward to do so. This is my written pledge to be intentional with the members of W Squad.
However, this cuts both ways. This is also my plea that everyone will keep me straight. That no one will let me duck out of feedback. To make sure that I do not walk away from something just because it's hard. I'm not always gonna be the best about all of this. But this is where I ask that you keep me accountable, W Squad. Or anyone really. Get in my face, do whatever you need to do, but help keep me accountable.
Finally, this is also my pledge to be intentional with God. Something I've always struggled with is making time for me and God. I want to grow as I never have before in my faith. In order to do that, I need to step it up. I need to spend more time listening to Him. Fighting for time with Him. Fighting to clear my mind of all the distractions and clutter so that I can hear Him clearly. I want to be more in tune with God.
This is not something I type lightly. These aren't just words on a page. I'm still considering deleting the whole thing. The reason being, I'm serious about this. I really am pledging to do all of these things. It's just a lot easier to wiggle your way out of awkward or hard situations when you haven't publicly professed that you wouldn't. This makes it a lot harder to take the easy way out on this 11-month journey.
You might be reading this and have things you want to fight for. Need to fight for. Maybe you're going on the Race. Maybe you're going on the Race with me! (#DubSquad).
To you I ask one question. What are you supposed to be fighting for?
Fighting, ever fighting.
Seth
