YOML 169: There Has to Be Another Way!
0Reflection Title: There Has to Be Another Way!
Book – Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Book Description:
Christopher Johnson McCandless grew up in suburban Annandale, Virginia. After graduating in May 1990 with high grades from Emory University, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave away his college fund of $24,500 to Oxfam, and began traveling across the Western United States, later abandoning his 1982 Datsun B210 after a flash flood.
On April 28, 1992, McCandless hitchhiked to the Stampede Trail in Alaska. There he headed down the snow-covered trail to begin an odyssey with only 10 pounds (4500 g) of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, several boxes of rifle rounds, a camera, and a small selection of reading material—including a field guide to the region's edible plants, Tana'ina Plantlore. He declined an acquaintance's offer to buy him sturdier clothing and better supplies. McCandless perished sometime around the week of August 18, 1992, after surviving for 113 days. This story is Jon Krakauer trying to figure out what happened and how this all came to be.
Reflection:
After finishing reading the story of Christopher McCandless, the thought that keeps popping into my mind is that he didn’t need to do what he did to find the answers he was seeking.
I feel so sad for Chris. All this guy really wanted to do was to discover himself, learn what he cared about, find out who he was, embrace being human with open arms, and find meaning in this world. I think most of us all feel the same way, and deep down can share a kindred spirit with what Chris was trying to accomplish. Unfortunately for Chris, he went too far to the extreme in order to find the answers he sought, and it cost him his life.
Ironically, given my own life over the past few years, I get why he went to the extremes to learn these lessons. The fastest, quickest, and easiest place to learn these important lessons of life can be found in the extremities. When the stakes are high and we are forced to sink or swim, it is in these moments that we are forced to find out who we truly are. We don’t have a choice in the extremes. It is either find a way back or perish. Chris was trying to create that environment for himself to help him unearth answers to these questions. However, I don’t feel like this should have to be the case.
I’ve been troubled by a question for a long time that I still don’t know the answer to, can one learn the lessons of life they need to uncover without going to the extremes?
I’ve been troubled by this one ever since I’ve emerged from the rubble of the atomic blast that rocked my world a few years ago. This whole year of magical learning was born in the extremes of my life out of necessity. My family was thrown into the extremes overnight. Finding my way back to this world is how I discovered who I am, what I want to do with my life, how I want to live, and brought me back to my answer of balance. However, it cost me my daughter.
Would I have ever found these answers to my own life if I wasn’t forced?
My answer to that is…I honestly don’t know!
What I do know is that if this is the price one must pay to learn about who we are…I don’t want anything to do with it! I think if Chris McCandless had survived and were here today, he would say the same thing.
There must be another way!
My mission in this world in this world is to create that other way for people to discover meaning and purpose to live a fulfilling life without having to go to the extremes to find it. I want to help Chris to accomplish what he was trying to do in the Alaskan bush without putting his life at risk. I want to help people to discover who they are, what matters to them most, and create a balanced life where they can do it all in moderation every day.
People shouldn’t have to go through what my family went through, or what Christopher McCandless put himself through in order to find meaning in this world. I hope to take my pain and lessons from the extremes and bring them back to this world to help others to find a more balanced approach to the purpose they seek.
It is possible to find another way…I know it is!
Question: How can you learn the lessons of life without having to go to the extremes to find it?