Departure day
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.”
Today is the day. I will board a plane this afternoon headed for South Africa, the start of an adventure that will span three countries on one of the world’s most beautiful continents. Last year around this time, I was in South Africa when my mother became ill. She passed away on December 1 and was buried on my 60th birthday. It’s been a rough transition year. She made me promise to finish my trip some day. And so, this trip will be bittersweet, but I know she will be smiling down on me as I embark on this personal journey.
This trip is bittersweet for another reason. One of my former students has been helping me get over my fear of exposure and vulnerability, my lack of skill building a social media platform and just overall cheerleading. Cara set up this enterprise and then her husband became seriously ill with a life threatening disease. She was not available to hold my hand as I pushed the publish button a few weeks ago. I want to repay her by following through with this scary project.
This lovely family with two young daughters is going through the fire right now with characteristic grace. I am in awe of Cara’s faith. I always have been. She was a superstar student. She became a superstar wife, mom and community leader. Her husband is a superstar dad, husband and school administrator. Cara and her husband have devoted themselves to a life of service. They are fighting a disease with all their might and having some successes.
As the launch date for this blog approached, and my fears grew, I was reminded that my anxiety was almost negligible when compared to the fight Cara’s family is going through. I’ve placed a lot of pressure on this trip. In some ways, if I am being truly honest, I planned this trip hoping to heal my heart. But now, I am hoping the blog will also be successful so Cara’s hard work building up my confidence will not have been in vain. If you’re so inclined, please pray for this sweet family.
Recently, Cara shared the following words on her blog, which she is using to chronicle her family’s battle against an aggressive disease. I think the words, written by Seth Godin, are fitting as I head off into the unknown.
“Approaching the limits
Not the limit of our skills.
Not the limit of our knowledge.
Not the limit of our physical capacity…
It’s almost always the limits of our internal narrative. Our guts. Our willingness to be kind, to believe, to care enough to leap.
We can’t do anything about the limitations of physics, and we can never do enough to change the limitations of our culture. But we can begin today changing the internal limits we place on ourselves.””
