Some consider me well traveled, and to someone who has never left
their home country, I am. I have traveled to and spent time in 15
different countries, but have never dipped below the elusive equator
and explored any parts of the southern hemisphere...today I win the
game of chicken I've been playing with South America. I am flying
south to the southern end of the skinny coastal country of Chile. I
will finally get fresh stamps in my new, naked, neglected passport. I
was proud of my old passport because it was well worn. It had a
plethora of stamps from Latin America and from all over Eastern
Europe. Most people never even come close to filling a passport with
stamps and end up being proud of the one or two bits of “traveling”
they've done to westernized countries or cities, claiming they have
the knowledge, perspective, and the experience of someone who has
been overseas and “seen the world.” Its true that someone can get
a glimpse of another culture from tasting true local cuisine, or
shopping in an open air market in the center of town. But its just a
glimpse and not a very good one at that (usually). How many of them
retreat to the comfort of their air conditioned hotel room when the
100 plus degree weather starts to beat down on them? How many people
keep their “valuables” in a “secret” travel belt so they
don't get pick-pocketed? How many people put away their preconceived
notions of what is “safe” to eat and eat at the locals food
stand. How many people go to a poverty stricken country, a war
ravaged land, or a humanity raped culture with thoughts of grandeur
because they are going to “help” those people? If we continue to
experience “cultures” the way we think they should be rather than
how they actually are, or try to “fix” them according to our own
beliefs or values never to return again, how is that experiencing
anything other than another rendition of our own selfish realities
simply filtered through a 3D mirage of a week long “vacation” or
“mission”?
My mom is the Director of World Missions at her church in Salem,
where I grew up. I love my mom more than anything in the world...shes
my mother, why wouldn't I? She is one of the most well traveled
individuals I have ever known. She doesn't travel to popular places,
stay at resorts, or frankly doesn't even enjoy some of the trips that
she goes on. Nor does she go to try to fix the world with her
religion claiming that they are simply lost souls needing to convert
to her way of thinking or her own personal convictions. She goes in
support of people who live there, she develops personal relationships
with people and builds on those relationships even after her short
visit, in order to serve them better. My mom and I do not always see
eye to eye on a lot of life’s finer points, but I respect her for
the work that she does. I respect her for going out of her comfort
zone and doing what she does, loving on people in a way she describes
as sharing the love of Jesus and sharing it with people who may not
know that anyone in this world (or any other world) loves them. Its
not a forced “you must believe what I believe” type of thing...I
truly believe that regardless of the title of what her teams go under
or the specific reasons or goals they may have, they are there to
spread love. Who can argue with that?
I am flying to Chile, under the banner of a Mountaineering School
that I am attending, but that doesn't mean that I can't spread the
love that I have received in my life with the people that I come into
contact with. In fact, I think it is important to love people no
matter where you are, who you are with, or what you've experienced in
life. You may have a lot of pent up anger, a boat load of bottled up
potent hatred that you are bound and determined to hold onto for some
reason... but why? We have ALL been wronged in some fashion or
another. Some of us have been lied to, some of us have been betrayed,
some of us have been cheated, some of us have had people we care
about taken away seemingly prematurely and unfairly, some of us have
been beaten, and some of us have been raped. These are terrible,
awful, horrendous wrong doings that have no excuse for happening, but
regardless of what injustices have been done to you why do you hold
on to such negativity? Its natural to feel anger and hatred...they
are emotions that we are hardwired to have, just like happiness and
joy. But we have a choice to let them go before they consume us and
take the joyful moments away, strip the happy thoughts and memories
from us. We all have that choice. If you let a small scratch or cut
on your arm or leg get infected and grow into a more serious,
gangrenous wound, it will start to spread to and affect more of your
body. It will start to affect more than just the little cut it once
was. If you don't deal with it when its small, giving it the
attention it needs to be taken care of when it first happens, and you
let it fester and ignore it, it WILL get worse, more painful, and
continue to effect you more and more. Eventually, if left long
enough, it could need to be amputated...forcing you to either cut it
off and get rid of it, or if you chose not to, it could ultimately
take your life....No one chooses that from the beginning, at least
not consciously, but by ignoring or pushing it away when it happens
doesn't make it go away. Same is true with hatred. It hurts when
we've been wronged. And its easy to not deal with it because it hurts
dealing with painful things, but if you push it away and let it
fester in you for weeks, months, years, or even decades it WILL
resurface as something so fierce you won't even recognize it as the
thing it once was. Deal with it and be done...don't hold on to hate.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about this school that I am
attending and it has been a huge struggle for me and very daunting to
deal with this knee injury that is largely unknown and confusing. It
doesn't make sense, but I’m facing it and I’m choosing to do
everything that I can to meet it head on not become the victim and
feel sorry for myself, but rather use this to become a stronger
person, a stronger leader. I may ultimately fail in what I set out to
do, but my perceived end point isn't the only thing that drives me.
The experiences I am gaining, the trials I am facing, and the
strength which I am forming are what is ultimately going to guarantee
my success. What that success means or looks like specifically, I
can't put into words right now, but I’m going for it full
tilt...and I couldn't do it if I stayed stuck on being the victim,
thinking of what could be if I wasn't injured...because this is what
is, nothing else....i choose my reality and my reality is I am on a
flight to Chile to meet up with 4 other amazing guys all training to
be awesome mountain guides! I will do the best that I am possibly
capable, I will keep a good positive attitude and I will share the
love of that I have to share because that is what I choose!
