These words apply to the simple things in life, the ones that make the biggest impact, here is the story that inspired this blog piece…

I was riding the train back from Seoul and was looking for a place to sit, usually I try and make sure I reserve a seat on the train but this one was sold out, all that was left were standing tickets. I had just finished getting lost on purpose for that last few hours and taking photos of things that caught my attention all over the city. Hungry and tired, I decided on coffee instead of food because to be honest I had no idea what I wanted, and everything was in Korean. While waiting in line I hear a voice "you order yet" I look to my right and see a young brotha, he looked to be in his early 20's and just as confused as I was feeling. I told him that I had and pointed to the lady hidden behind the counter.

Time passed and the hour to board approached, I had learned from my previous adventures around Korea to get on early if you have a standing ticket. I thought I might get lucky and find space behind the last seats on the train where I could sit, it was less comfortable to flying on a budget airplane, but it beat standing and sweating in the parts of the train with no A/C. As I hastily walked through each car looking for a spot, I began to come to terms with the possibility to having to stand for the ride. Luckily there was a car on the train for people with standing tickets on this train, the car has limited space for sitting and usually fills up very quickly. As I approach the door I peek through the oval window in it, I see that there are still spots open, I walk in and immediately see a bench spot to my left. I ask the two men sitting there If they could make space for me in the middle and they quietly oblige.

As I sit down the train begins to move, I pull out my iPad as I had plans to read and edit some photos on the 1-hour train ride back home. The whistle blows as the train leaves the station and a beam of sunlight blast through the window and straight onto all of our faces, the young man to my right immediately pulls down the shade, I assume the one to my left would want the same and begin to pull on the shade. I look over for a sign of confirmation and realize this is the same young man I saw earlier, so I decide to speak and asked if he minds. He smiles softly while looking out the window and says that he actually enjoys the sun, I smile on the inside as I secretly do too, the familiar urge to connect with a stranger began to fill me with wonder.

I greet the young man and strike up a conversation, we speak on why we are here now and where we are from, and of the fun things to do in Seoul. I ask his age and he quietly said he is 20 years old. Now I am by no means old, but my spirit is a smooth 47 years or better, I was keen to pass on knowledge to this young man. It's a feeling more than anything else, but at this stage in my life, I've learned to trust those feelings.

I dig a little deeper with my questions, I ask his "why" for moving, what his plans are for the future, and what his favorite thing about living abroad are, from his answers I could infer that he had a spirit of adventure.

I share my journey of cultivating my own spirit of adventure and how I had quit my job at 25 so that I could focus on travel and self-development. As I spoke his level of interest was clear as his pupils dilated and his posture shifted towards me, I had his full attention. He asked me how I was able to live the way that I do and how I ended up in Korea, so I took a deep breath and began to give him a summary of the last 5 years of my life. I started by telling him about my 10 months in India studying a new coding language, my move to St. Louis to begin my new career in tech, my reason for moving back to DC to be closer to family, and my final move to Korea. He seemed surprised when I told him that this had all in a way been a part of a bigger plan I had always had to live abroad. As I was finishing up my story, he seemed a bit puzzled, and said " you make it sound so easy". I furrowed my brow and look him in the eyes as I said "when did I ever say any of it was easy". This was not the first time this happened to me, my emphatic and joyous way of storytelling can be misconstrued as a pleasant journey filled with ease and comfort, but my journey was everything but easy. It made me question my "self" and my "why" countless times, I found new lows in life countless time during my journey, but I also found new peaks as well.

This is why I stress to you and to everyone to take the time to self-reflect, to rest, to heal, so that you may grow. Figure out which small actions serve you best and do them constantly until they become second nature. Don't complain about what you allow, your life is your responsibility. Worry less about what has happened you and put more energy and thought into how you will react to and will grow from it, we cannot change what has happened, but we have plenty control over what will. I recently read The Slight Edge there is quote from it that I would like to leave you with "For things to change, you've got to change. For things to get better, you've got to get better. It's easy to do. But then, it's just as easy not to do". The ease of choice is a difficult one, it a weird paradox because the easy path and the difficult one, require the same amount of energy to start. The part that we feel is hard is the mental one, the "choice".

I thank you for taking the time to read, and I pray that you have taken something from my story. Remember that "greatness is always in the moment of the decision" and that greatness lies within us all.