It was the middle of a rainy, windy Saturday and we just finished hour 6 and mile 9 of riding through Baltimore. The students and the vehicle were doing great, but the kids just fought their way up a long hill to the top of Patterson Park. They were exhausted.
Standing there catching our breath, a student standing next to me said “I’m so proud of this vehicle!”
This student had never used a bandsaw before. He’d never used a drill press, never welded, never used an angle grinder, zip ties, or socket wrenches. He'd never built something so practical and so collaboratively creative. He learned all those things, and the project worked - it worked well.
This student was the only sophomore on a team of seniors, and he kept showing up. He was quiet, yet he’d ask questions and give his ideas. He was at times daunted, yet he participated fully. He didn't know how it would turn out, and he didn't know how to create a path to fulfilling on a vision, yet he kept showing up.
One of humankind’s superpowers is our ability to think. Mostly, we use this superpower to keep ourselves safe - physically and socially. It’s a really good thing that we do this!
However, most of us leave untouched our greatest creative thinking capacity: the ability to create an all-encompassing, life-giving Why.
No matter how wet, cold, or worn out we get, when life is being lived in service of our Why, it’s worth it.
Our Why is worth our fears, and our Why is worth our discomfort. Our Why is worth continually learning, growing, trying, and failing. Our Why is worth our succeeding, and our Why is worthy of our pride.
When our Why is clear enough, it can give us life in any moment. It gives us a reason to forgive, a reason to give, a reason to lighten up, and a reason to live full out.
My Why: to elevate the well-being of all life on Earth.
What’s yours?
Thanks so much for reading. ❤️
Here's a picture of most of our team around mile 3 yesterday (I can't show student faces):
