as a lover of stories, i've often imagined what life would be like if i were a part of one of my favorites. an orphan alongside anne of green gables, a friend of elizabeth bennet, one of the march sisters, one of the railway children, a heroine.
however, as we get dragged down in the day to day, it is so easy to forget that we are part of a story. our own unique story. and every choice we make decides what kind of story we are living. over the last four years, i have found myself a part of many adventures that make great stories: white-water rafting through the andes mountains, a 60 hour bus ride across the hellish chaco of paraguay, sitting among the ancient ruins of machu picchu, backpacking an ancient incan trail, sailing across the lake titicaca, driving across the awe inspiring salt flats, riding a boat under the iguazu falls, watching the calving of the perrito moreno glacier, and many, many more.
even this past weekend, a simple camping trip turned into an adventure when the 1978 land cruiser we were driving in decided that it had had enough of the altitude and just stopped running. we ended up just pushing it to the side of the road and hiking down into the valley below to set up camp for the night. it wasn't how we had planned our weekend, but it still turned into a wonderful adventure. and really, in bolivia, there doesn't seem to be any lack of amazing campsites. the random valley was gorgeous and that night we sat under one of the most amazing star-studded skies i have ever seen.
an exciting story seems easy to live when you live overseas. but as i prepare to leave this life of easy adventures, i am trying to remember that i can live an exciting story anywhere. it just takes living life with open eyes and a ready spirit, the willingness to choose the harder path and the desire to make your story count. and the result will be a story that is far better than any found in literature.
1 comment:
really great post!
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