Reflection

When I was on the plane home from California to Charlotte, I wrote a reflection in my computer so that it would be fresh and right after my experience. Here it is:

As I sit here on the plane, I’m in awe of my country. I’m in awe of my experiences, my friends, what I saw and what I learned about myself. I’m able to just look out the window, down on the earth, knowing that there are so many things to be seen and there is so much down there to be explored. I used to just look out the plane window and think nothing of what I saw but now I know there is so much to see in this world. And so many things to do! We are going 600 miles an hour (way faster than 15-20 that I usually went), speeding past so many awesome places and I realize how open my eyes are. I’ve learned that I can do anything and be whomever I want. I never in my life thought that I would ride my bike across the country but I just did!! I rode from Jacksonville Florida to Monterey California on my bicycle and didn’t even go the most direct route. I rode over four thousand two hundred miles…that’s such an insane number and idea to grasp. I started with 31 other strangers that quickly became some of my best friends and favorite “roommates”. Not only did I do all of that, but I also went to Jacksonville, St Augustine, the Gulf, New Orleans, crossed the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch, Santa Fe, Ghost Ranch, Durango, Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Monterey, Big Sur, San Francisco, Death Valley, Mount Whitney, and Monument Valley!! There were so many things in between all of those huge places too! It just blows my mind at what I did when I look at the big picture because day-by-day, you’re just riding your bike to the next host but when you look at the summer as a whole, it’s unreal. I biked so far! I learned so much about the need for service in this country. Our group helping out for 7 hours on a Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida allowed a family to move in that next weekend and also saved the organization thousands of dollars in fees they don’t have to pay anymore because they will be able to make their checkpoints now. It wasn’t a hard task for us but it made a world of a difference for them. In Las Vegas, at the Veterans Village, the woman who helped a lot there and volunteered a lot of her time cried tears of joy from all the work we were able to do for them. They worked solely off volunteers so having such a large amount of people come in and finish several projects in only a few hours was huge for them. It’s amazing to me how many problems there are in this country, specifically surrounding housing, and it can’t be fixed fast enough. There are so many organizations that work off volunteers and it’s so easy and rewarding to go out there for the day and just give your time. Everyone that we built houses for cried when they talked to our group because they were so extremely grateful for the support and for help changing their lives for the better. This is one of the best causes to work for because the reward is immediate and the money that is donated is spent directly toward the supplies for building or for the organization to function and continue to house families. Community service should be a priority for everyone. I also learned more than I could have imagined about myself and what I’m capable of. The trip was more of a mental challenge, for me, than it was a physical one. There were so many days that I would wake up and tell myself that I knew I wasn’t going to finish or that I couldn’t do it. I thought I was going to get in the van because of pure exhaustion and just being so over it. I didn’t want to look at my bike! But, every day, I still did it. I got on my bike and made my way host to host. Some days were better than others but I managed to get there everyday. I managed to get on my bike and push through the pain and the struggle and enjoy the day. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the other 31 people I was with. Biking across the country is not an easy task! I am way stronger than I could have ever imagined and I know that I am capable of a lot more than I gave myself credit for. I hope that I always remember that because it was one of the most valuable lessons I learned. I also learned that people are amazing and there is so much to learn about people. I no longer want to settle for the surface information about people. I want to get to know them. People are complex, dynamic books that are waiting to be read, you just have to put forth the effort to learn. Everyone also has such a complex set of skills that I do not and there is so much that I can learn from others by talking to them. All I have to do is try. There is no reason to ever be lonely because there are a lot of people in this world! The most valuable lesson I learned is that adventure is out there and it’s waiting. All I have to do is step outside my front door. There shouldn’t be a day that goes by where I’m bored all day and have nothing to do. I can read a book and learn something new, I can go somewhere I’ve never been, do something I’ve never done and I can meet a new person. Life should be fun and exciting and that’s how I plan on it going for myself. I hope to look back on my life and feel like I made everything out of it. The world is a huge place that’s meant to be seen and I want to see it.