What drives you? What makes you tick? I was recently asked those very questions and as sure as I am of myself and my goals. Those questions gave me pause. How far back should one go to tell the story of where it began? Where the seed of inspiration took root and blossomed into a dream, a message, a passion, a purpose? Perhaps it's not one solid event but a culmination of experiences that leads us to the path we were chosen for. Perhaps, moments that seem coincidental were all apart of a greater plan. This blog post is a bit of a departure from my typical post. It's a moment of reflection. A moment to remember how it all began.
Life is about the Journey
When I was seven my mom and I moved from Kentucky to Florida. It was fortunate that my dad worked at the time for Delta. This made it convenient for me to travel back and forth many times a year to visit him and return to my roots in the country. I was an only child for the majority of my youth and I flew as a child on my own. The destination was always one home and family or the other, but the journey between was something entirely it's own. Something happened when I traveled on my own. I watched people, I talked to people, I day dreamed, and I grew up.
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| 14 year old Amy takes off for Jamaica on her first big adventure. |
As a teenager I took my first trip overseas when I was 14, without my parents. By this time I had been traveling solo half a dozen times a year or more. It was nothing for me to join a team of teenagers with a youth organization out of Texas to venture to Jamaica on a mission trip. Again, something happened to me when I was out of my element, in a foreign land, surrounded by strangers. Suddenly I could see the world from a larger perspective. My world view expanded, and so did my confidence. I traveled to a new country almost every year after. At 15 it was Costa Rica, 16 was Brazil, and at 18 was China.
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| Headed to Costa Rica |
Sometime during this process I began to develop a whole new mindset. Life truly is about the Journey, not the destination. It's the moments between that make the biggest impact. And for me, travel isn't about a once in a while getaway, it's a lifestyle. To journey into the unknown is to discover a new corner of your soul.
Love People
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| Amy and husband David take off on a new adventure |
When we embrace what is different in the world, we hold up a mirror to our own heart and learn what it's made of. Where does your motivation come from? For me, the foundation of my beginnings lay in my spiritual relationship with God. When all else in life had failed me, He was there. I've learned a lot about faith through the years. I was brought up in Christian school, studied at a Christian leadership internship, and was pretty much raised in church. You could call me knowledgeable. But for all that knowledge, what I've learned is that ultimately, I know very little in the grand scheme of creation's big picture. What I do know is that we were made by a loving creator to love Him, and if we are to love Him, we must love our neighbor. Love People. That simple. For me, I see Him in the world. In nature, in my travels, in the people I meet along the way. My travels are a reminder that there is something much much bigger at work in this world than the small micro culture I routinely live in. To travel is to expand my heart, mind, and soul. To travel is to get me out of my comfort zone, and remind me there is a world of joy out there, there is a world of hurt that needs healing, and there is a way I can make a small difference when I choose love.
Together We Are Stronger
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| On a family adventure |
When was the last time you had a chance to take a moment of reflection and reevaluate what makes you tick? Join me on March 27th during the Generation W Women's leadership conference and invest in your future for a day while you hear some powerful leaders share about Passion and Purpose. The event was built to inspire women to connect and bring about powerful change in their communities and the world. I hope to see you there!
Until then...
Enjoy the Journey!
xo- Amy West
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