Cycling all day gives you a lot of time to think, ponder life’s big questions and well…contemplate your navel. I realize that most of you read our blog to make sure we’re ok, find out about the TDA, maybe even hear an amusing tale or two. Certainly no one is reading this to hear to my drivel, my reflections on life. Well, too bad…it looks like I’ve gone ahead and written the blog anyway. ;D
I was thinking about this trip, how much I have seen and done, how it’s lifted my spirits, made me cry, and made me laugh. I’ve also thought about how many different ways it’s challenged me, how many fears and barriers I’ve had to overcome. (Hospitals, risk, fear of failure, I’m even sharing my personal thoughts on the internet for heaven’s sake! If that doesn’t make you feel vulnerable I don’t know what will). At times, I’ve even joked that for some unforeseen reason I’m going to have to run naked through the camp. 
(Sorry for putting that image in your head! Quick, think of something pleasant! Puppies, ice cream, a world without porridge…Better? …Good!). So here’s the big question: “Is there such a thing as a life changing experience. Can people change?” I was having this discussion with a few of the other riders. Some thought that people simply don’t change, (that it is largely an American concept); others obviously thought that change is possible.
Here is my two cents: As a general rule, I don’t think people change fundamentally. A butthead doesn’t suddenly become a giving person; an introvert doesn’t suddenly grow a preference for huge crowds. I do believe however, that people can have major “shifts” in their life. As we experience new things, when we expose ourselves to different ideas, we start to break down more and more barriers. Doing that, you inevitably learn more about yourself, what you need and what you want out of life. You begin to allow yourself to believe that you are capable of more then you thought, you start to take more risk, try new things and suddenly you are doing things you never would have dreamt of doing before. Every challenge taken is the stepping stone for the next. Had we never cycled through Europe, we would probably have never signed up for the TDA. I personally do feel this experience has changed me in many ways. I’ll save the “hows” for later.
I admit the following example is slightly off the topic, but I do think it demonstrates my point. I have an aunt that discovered her passion for painting in her sixties. I don’t remember her being artistic at all before and now she is selling her paintings. The point is; it was always in her, she just didn’t know it. We, or at least I, have a tendency to believe that we know who we are, what we are capable are, where are talents are. In reality, we never stop growing. That’s a hugely uplifting concept to me.
I’d be really curious to get your thoughts on the matter. Pretty please!
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April 27th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Hi Maria,
You asked, so of course I have to respond.
First, a complment. I have been reading your blog throughout the trip. In the beginning, it was to “fill in the gaps” between the TDA blog and the posts that Liz has made, but I have throughly enjoyed your posts the further you have gone. You are doing a great job telling your story.
Can people change? Through our own effort, I don’t think so. Reform, yes, but really change? Not really. But can a person “be changed”? YES! That is truly possible. I have seen it happen to many people. I’ll try to explain.
I call reforming the minor adjustments that we make. It’s an introvert like me making the effort to talk to others. It’s changing my diet or exercise to improve my health. But inside, I’m the same person. A trip like you are on will change the way you see some things and how you think, but it’s really an adjustment based on the things you are learning.
Real change, deep inside, gut level, I’m different change, begins outside of us. I’m a Christian and the change I’m talking about is what I have experienced and what I have seen in others. Becoming a Christian means believing that Jesus was really who he said he was (that is, God).Beleiving that apart from Him, I am lost, but that through his sacrifice for me, I can have peace with God. To those that accept him, he has places his spirit inside them. He said (and I have seen it) that “The old life is passing away. Behold, all things are becoming new”. And that is what changes a hater into a lover, a thief into a giver, a liar into a truth teller, and a doubter into a believer.
There is meaning to life, and all the crazy things that go on in it. I’m glad you are seeing that “life doesn’t consist of the abundance of our possessions”. I hope, if you have not already, that someday you will also come to believe that what is really important is your relationship to God.
Bob Doster (Dad to Elizabeth)
ps: next time, use a chain on Spiros. He won’t be able to gnaw through it.
pss: thanks for being friends to our baby girl. You sound a lot like her.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Maria, just like many family members of other riders (Josh is my son, living life for me!), we have been “listening” in on your musings along the way. The trials you and Spiros have endured deserve a chapter all their own, and I know in talking with Josh that everyone on the tour was concerned about his health for quite some time. That experience alone merits some kind of shift in one’s perspective.
Add the experience of travelling the length of Afica, encountering so many people, places, creatures and things, only those with their eyes, ears and minds closed could not be moved to another level of understanding and self awareness. From your writings, it is obvious you are one who absorbs, learns and grows from your experiences. I’m sure your aunt must be just as impressed as you are with her.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
May 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Hello Bob and Ron
Thank you both very much for your kind words and for taking the time to add your thoughts. I truly appreciate it. Its also very nice to know that you enjoyed the blogs. We wanted to share this experience!
Its been an amazing four months with many ups and downs and we both feel that we have gained a lot from this experience. Hopefully, we will never forget the lessons learnt or the perspective that we gained.
You both must be very proud of Elizabeth and Josh, they are amazing people!
Thanks again,
Maria