I have realized a terrible and wonderful curse in my life: I will never be able to settle; or rather, I pray that I never want to settle. It’s a strange thing to feel apathy and “reality” creep into your life and try to convince you that your value isn’t nearly as significant as you may have once thought. It’s a common thought that people have, but why do we have such wild ambitions when we are children and then settle for something quite less a few years down the road? I am only 23-years-old (today), but all the travels feel like they are starting to lend me one good lesson that I need to walk with for the rest of my life: we humans have incredible potential to do great things but we let fear hinder us from reaching. I don’t think it is an accident that we are, in those moments of revelation, struck with profound ideas and desires for something more meaningful. I suppose what I’m talking about is fulfillment and vocation. Perhaps God made us with striving hearts so that, when all good things align, we are using our deepest desires, ideas and greatest reach to help other people. What if the thing you loved to do the most is exactly the thing that could serve those around you the best? I think that’s how we are intended to truly function and if you can find the thing you love the most and discover how it is meant to serve the people around you, then you must be doing something right.
The great thing about challenge and learning is that it doesn’t matter where you are or even what you are doing. Whenever I’m living in some foreign country I am always struck by how much more adventurous I tend to be than when I’m back in the States. What if I rented motorcycles on the weekends back in Montana or got my climbing gear together for a spelunking trip in Southern California? I imagine, among other things, my ability to challenge myself and meet challenge would increase significantly and what could be more valuable than having a desire to be challenged, knowing that adventure will result? I know, sometimes I make the world sound like a Disney movie, but trust me, I know the dangers, drama and heartaches involved in these challenges, I know I have many more to undergo and still I will gladly walk into the situations – why? Well, in truth, I’d rather die in my 20s having lived life than live 80 years without really appreciating the breath I breathe everyday.
What does all this motivational speech have to do with anything? Well, only you can decide because the message is very personal to the individual reading it. For myself, I have had the unique opportunity to observe and partake in life in China and the things that once made me uncomfortable and maybe even a bit uncertain are now normal and even highlights of my life. I’ve been stretched beyond what I thought I could be, I’ve been lost, unable to communicate, sick as a dog and experienced a darker more frustrated version of myself than I have ever known. I once heard someone on the food network say that the tongue is very adaptable if you push it to some limits. He said that trying new foods and forcing oneself to eat foods on the dislike menu would challenge and stretch the pallet. As a result, the owner of the challenged tongue will not only be able to eat more things and understand better taste, but that person will also crave it. I think the human spirit is no different. Sure, you can sit around and eat the same food you love and never challenge your tongue, but is it worth staying right where you are in your life for the rest of your life knowing that the moment you leave town you’ll starve to death because you haven’t allowed your tongue to grow? And so it is, the more variety of foods you can eat the farther you will go in this life…and I think you know I’m not talking about food.
Allow me to end with a quote from my mother and another by St. Irenaeus:
“As soon as you stop learning, you may as well die.” – Mom
“May God forever be the teacher, and man forever a learner.” – St. Irenaeus
~Johnny Young
The great thing about challenge and learning is that it doesn’t matter where you are or even what you are doing. Whenever I’m living in some foreign country I am always struck by how much more adventurous I tend to be than when I’m back in the States. What if I rented motorcycles on the weekends back in Montana or got my climbing gear together for a spelunking trip in Southern California? I imagine, among other things, my ability to challenge myself and meet challenge would increase significantly and what could be more valuable than having a desire to be challenged, knowing that adventure will result? I know, sometimes I make the world sound like a Disney movie, but trust me, I know the dangers, drama and heartaches involved in these challenges, I know I have many more to undergo and still I will gladly walk into the situations – why? Well, in truth, I’d rather die in my 20s having lived life than live 80 years without really appreciating the breath I breathe everyday.
What does all this motivational speech have to do with anything? Well, only you can decide because the message is very personal to the individual reading it. For myself, I have had the unique opportunity to observe and partake in life in China and the things that once made me uncomfortable and maybe even a bit uncertain are now normal and even highlights of my life. I’ve been stretched beyond what I thought I could be, I’ve been lost, unable to communicate, sick as a dog and experienced a darker more frustrated version of myself than I have ever known. I once heard someone on the food network say that the tongue is very adaptable if you push it to some limits. He said that trying new foods and forcing oneself to eat foods on the dislike menu would challenge and stretch the pallet. As a result, the owner of the challenged tongue will not only be able to eat more things and understand better taste, but that person will also crave it. I think the human spirit is no different. Sure, you can sit around and eat the same food you love and never challenge your tongue, but is it worth staying right where you are in your life for the rest of your life knowing that the moment you leave town you’ll starve to death because you haven’t allowed your tongue to grow? And so it is, the more variety of foods you can eat the farther you will go in this life…and I think you know I’m not talking about food.
Allow me to end with a quote from my mother and another by St. Irenaeus:
“As soon as you stop learning, you may as well die.” – Mom
“May God forever be the teacher, and man forever a learner.” – St. Irenaeus
~Johnny Young