Driver Fatigue

On the road of life, the journey is the point.

We all start and end in the same places. It is what we do with the time in between the start and finish that makes all the difference. What you use your journey for is what makes the difference.

Using your journey to eek ahead every little so you reach a stoplight before everyone else will put you in the lead of a bunch of people who are not happy with you.

Using your drive to drive as far as you can as fast as you can will only leave you tired and fatigued. Your driving will get worse as time goes on and you will make stupid mistakes you never would have made if you were getting enough rest.

Using your journey to make space for others to merge and lane change as needed, helps you make friends and makes you a hero to someone in their moment of need.

How will you use your journey? Who are the people you have made friends with? Who are the people you have maybe edged out and are not happy with you? What can you do to make friends moving forward? What can you do to help other people as they journey along? Who can help you make wise decisions on your journey?

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Meeting New

Traveling to a new place it is easy to enjoy the sites, be scintillated by the novelty of the newness, and to enjoy the diversity of people. People who do not live where you live, do what you do, or think how you think.

Getting away from home really has the potential to bring you to a place where the world is your oyster.

You are also an island unto yourself.

You are the only one from your town, thinking the way you do, and doing what you do. You are generally away from your tribe and without your support network.

You do breath air. Much like the people around you.

You do eat food. Much like the people around you.

You need somewhere to sleep and eat.

So, what is stopping you from meeting the people you cross paths with already? Engaging them in who they are and what they do? Finding out what is coming next in their lives? Their family? Their occupation? What do they do in their spare time? How do you know someone you will cross paths with today is out of their element and could use a local guide to get to their next adventure?

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Adventures

I am a pretty simple person. I do not have a lot of lofty life goals and idealistic priorities in my life. I do not have much of a bucket list and I most certainly do not have a bunch of crazy dreams I am trying to achieve. As a matter of fact, if anything, I have too few goals and achievements to strive towards.

I have been on a lot of cool adventures though. Not necessarily stuff out of the ordinary, quite simply put, things important to me. Things like going to Ireland and going to Israel. Two life goals or bucket list items I have checked off my list. I have been to Norway, Belgium, France, Germany, and Iceland (though only the airport for a few hours.) I have been to most of the states in the United States of America including Hawaii. I did a road trip for three weeks with four of my best friends. Generally, I never really dreamed I needed to go all these places but I have. And I am so thankful to have gotten to have done these things. 

Much of what I have done has not been because of me. I have done what I have done because of the people around me. 

People like my wife, my friends, and my family. 

I have been where I have been and seen what I have seen because of the people in my life who want to share their goals and adventures with me. I have what I have not because I am something extra special deserving of these fun travels. I have been blessed to go these places because of the people in my life who love me enough to take me along as they do these things. I have been where I have been because I am plugged into community. 

Now, I am sure I will still be able to do some really cool stuff over the next rest of my life. I am sure much of that will continue to be because of community. However, I must also make sure I am blessing people too. I must make sure I am bringing people along who might not have the chance or blessing people as I have been blessed. I must make sure I am inciting adventures and bringing people along with me and expect nothing in return.

Who are you bringing along on your adventures?

Adventuring,

–JT

Sleepless in Tacoma

I love asking questions. I love it even more when I find answers to my questions. I love the answers the most when I have been wrestling with the questions for a while, especially a questions like, “Why do I feel compelled to go to Tacoma to spend time with my friends? What waits for me there?” 

[Aside: Obviously I want to see my friends. I love these people. I just felt more compelled and forced to go than just the usual, “Golly gee, I’m super excited to go.”]

I’m excited to say, I have a clue to the answer tied up in a story from these past days spent in Tacoma. Of the two friends I have in the area, one of them is, putting it mildly, quite a bit more forward and blunt. They are both pretty honest and real people in general, one of them will tell you how it is in a very direct sense. Suffice to say, he calls a spade a spade and makes no bones about it. He and I have been spending quite a bit of time together. I love spending time with this guy.

The flip side of this conversation, I am not an extremely forward person. I actually have a bit of fear and anxiety about sharing my opinion or bringing up conflict with people. For example, the other night I was talking with some friends and we were trying to decide what to eat. I suggested a place because we were all so indecisive. But I was afraid of rejection, offending someone, and anxious about it being a bad choice. I almost didn’t say anything. 

Spending time with my friend is reminding me that I need to voice my opinion. I need to voice my commentary. In situations where the outcome has no bearing on anything, I need to voice my opinion if I have one (in these types of situations I usually don’t have even an inkling of an opinion and I’m not about to start making some up to be contrarian.) In situations where the group is going drastically off course, I need to voice my opinion. I need to have a voice. Having a voice is good. However, it is a high powered assault rifle and it is going to be a little messy moving forward and figuring out when and where it is actually good to open my voice.

How do you feel about having a voice? What are you doing to use your voice for the good of others and your community?

Cautiously,

–JT

From the Outside, Looking In

I love the community I get to be a part of. I’m a part of a group of people who love each other. They want the best for one another and they genuinely want everyone to succeed. They have their priorities in order and they aren’t bent on silly things. This community is far from perfect I assure you; but, we are all more focussed on the well being of one another than we are each others’ flaws and flukes. I can say all this because their actions align with their words, especially in my life. However, I’m beginning to see how different the community I get to be a part of is different from so many other communities. This is not a statement that my community is better, it is a statement that my community goes about things differently. I’m so glad we’re different too. 

Our methods work well in our area, better than they would someplace else. The methods of other communities works better in their areas, better than they would in my area.

The striking part of my observations is, when I am visiting a different community, it is better for me to take part in their methods and processes and encourage them to pursue their goals than it is for me to insert, discuss, or force my own ‘tried and true’ methods. I am excited about this realization. 

I now see that the guilt and weight I’ve always carried when visiting people who do things differently than I do was as unnecessary as I felt it was, even though I could never put my finger on why it was unnecessary. I’m can celebrate the differences wholeheartedly. 

How will you celebrate the differences between you and whoever and wherever you spend time this holiday season?

Excitedly,

–JT