I started journaling ten years ago today on one of the most discouraging days of my life. I’ve recorded an entry for almost every day since that fateful May 18, 2016.
Every once in a while, I flip through past entries to reflect on different moments. There’s a lot of hard stuff in there. I don’t wallow in the low points, as I’ve seen so much pain redeemed in my life. Those lines illustrate shifts in perspective, theology, and relationships. I try not to let who I used to be burden my soul with regret. But I find value in pondering the mile markers on the way to the current version of my heart.
Thankfully, those pages are also filled with epic days:
• snow camping in Antarctica and then visiting my seventh continent (Asia)
• adopting a teenager after 19 years of marriage
• starting professional counseling and attending therapy retreats
• wing walking on an aerobatic biplane in Washington and California
• BASE jumping for the first time
• surprising my wife in Italy to re-propose to her on a girls’ trip
• attending ice racing school
• publishing my second and third books
• snowmobiling in three countries
• completing both a survival class and a surfing lesson in the Arctic Circle
• introducing my friends to ice climbing
• staring wide-eyed from helicopters en route to glacier adventures in British Columbia
• riding in the front seat of an aerobatic glider guided by a three-time champion aerobatic pilot
• driving through dozens of creeks and rivers in Iceland
• spending an entire night hanging off a cliff in Colorado
• swimming behind an ice breaker ship in Sweden
• spending multiple weekends camping next to UTVs in Utah’s high desert
• crossing the highest Alps road passes of 6 countries back-to-back via motorcycle
• canoeing the canyonlands of the Texas-Mexico border
• officiating weddings (including for my baby sister) and watching my wife officiate her first
• snorkeling between the tectonic plates of North America and Europe
• bagging my third and fourth continents for bungee jumping
• racing dune buggies at night in a Nevada desert
• sea kayaking after midnight in the Lofoten Islands
• paragliding 9 times in 6 countries
• finishing record days, weeks, months, and years in my business
• discovering that my nephew had been named for me
• tender relational moments that put a lump in my throat when I recall them
How ‘bout you?
What’s been one of the best things you’ve experienced in your past decade of life?
How often do you go back to relive those moments?
And what grand adventure do you hope is someday a true thing you can describe in your journal?
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Stock image purchased from iStockPhoto.com
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