Let it roll, let it crash down low
Let it roll, let it crash down low
Life is the biggest travel adventure
What’s up, y’all!
Sometimes it may seem like I drift away from the theme of Snale Trails: “A Travel Adventure”. What does seeking discomfort have to do with travel, right?
But part of our reason for moving to another country is that it’s a chance for us to grow and learn. We’re constantly striving to become our best selves. In a way, our lives ARE the travel adventure.
I know, I know. Cheesy.
Pardon me for quoting Marcus Aurelius constantly, but that dude figured it all out a long time ago:
“People try to get away from it all — to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within. Nowhere you can go is more peaceful—more free of interruptions—than your own soul.”
We don’t need to go to Costa Rica to improve ourselves, we can do that wherever we are. The journey that we are on is far more exciting than simply a physical relocation. Most people cruise down the road of life on auto-pilot, letting external factors control their final destination. We decided a few years back to shift into manual gear and choose our own destiny instead.
It’s definitely harder, but no growth without discomfort, right?
That’s why I got the new tattoo of Sisyphus, pictured above. If you don’t know his story from Greek mythology, the short version is that he was a mortal man who cheated death twice
, and that angered the gods. His punishment was to push a rock up a hill for eternity. Every time he reached the top, the rock would roll back down and he would have to start over.Today, a Herculean effort is one that requires great strength, while a Sisyphean effort is one that is both difficult and futile.
No one envied Sisyphus, to be trapped doing the same job, day in and day out, every day for the rest of his life. Hmm, sounds suspiciously like modern life, doesn’t it?
Sometimes life can feel meaningless and repetitive, just like the task of Sisyphus. But I recently read the work of a French philosopher, Alfred Camus, and long story short, he said that Sisyphus was happy! It gave me a different perspective on life. What if, instead of dreading the struggle, I embraced it?
By accepting that life will always have challenges, I can spend my time preparing for those challenges, instead of cringing in fear and worrying about what lies ahead. Because ready or not, there will be obstacles ahead. Luckily, The Obstacle is The Way. (Highly recommend Ryan Holiday’s book if you haven’t read it.)
Once I learned that obstacles actually make me stronger, I became eager to push the rock. I accept that it is hard to push a rock up a hill, and I accept that when I get there, it’s going to roll back down the hill again.
I will smile every time, though, the same way that Thomas Edison smiled when his factory burned to the ground. His son said with horror, “Why are you happy?”
He replied, "Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start fresh again.”
Keep pushing the rock.
Video of the Week
Some of the highlights from our stay in the deep South.
Quote of the Week
That wraps up another week with Snale Racing! We’ll leave you with the quote that was most powerful for us this week. Keep getting back up, it’s worth it. Peace!✌
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Here was his initial plan to cheat death: He told his wife that after he died, she was to throw his body into the public square. She did so, and then Sisyphus complained to the gods that his wife had mistreated his body, and he’d better get back up there and beat her for the disrespect. They agreed to let him leave Hades then, because obviously this woman needed to be beaten.🙄