My Reaction To Others’ Reactions

Well, Deseret News published a story about me today. You can check it out by going here: http://tinyurl.com/ygh2h9k. That’s the first press attention that I’ve gotten, and I anticipate getting more press as I continue on my journey. However, I thought it was very interesting to read some of the comments and reactions to my trip.

Most of all, I was surprised by the negative comments that were posted. I’m not sure why, but I never really expected those types of reactions. I mean, it makes complete sense to me that some people would look down on my trip and my idea to do it. I guess I just realized today that I’m going to have some people who really don’t like what I’m doing. Just like the comments, people might think that I’m a spoiled brat who is hard to please. People might think that I’m a mooch just living off of others’ kindness and generosity. There will also be those who think I have this feeling of self-entitlement, and that I should be grateful for what I have.

I guess it’s good for me to realize right now that I’m going to have some negative feedback. I’ve actually struggled in my life always being open about my goals and plans, because I never want to sound over-ambitious. I know sometimes when people have huge goals, that others like to tear them down so they feel justified in their own mediocrity. So, I a lot of times am not open with my ideas because I don’t want to open them up to the criticism and negativity of others.

This trip will help me out, because I’m being extremely open with everything I do. There will be naysayers and critics for what I’m trying to accomplish, no matter what I do. I need to get used to that and not back down from what it is I really want out of life.

I think what really bothers me about negative reactions isn’t the fact that people disagree with me. I just don’t like the feeling of being misunderstood. It was the same as a missionary. My biggest pet peave was ignorance. a lot of people were ignorantly opposed to something they knew nothing about. That’s the same way I feel about any negativity people have toward me and this trip. About the article, people were making these assumptions about the type of person I am, based upon my actions reported. In reality, they have no idea what type of person I really am, and so they are ignorantly opposed to what I’m trying to accomplish.

Well, it’s a good reminder to me to never be quick to judge others’ intentions or actions. The great thing about going through this trip is that it’s going to teach me a lot about people. Some people are going to love what I’m doing and are going to support me wholeheartedly. Others are not going to like it, but, you can’t make everyone happy. That’s why you gotta just not care and do what you feel is the right thing for you.

No car, and first interview…

Ok, so, a couple posts ago I was trying to decide whether or not I should bring a car with me on my trip. After thinking about it some, I decided that I definitely didn’t want to bring a car with me. However, then I started thinking of selling my car. I mean, one of the main reasons I was thinking of bringing a car is so that once I decide to stop in a place, I can live there. I wouldn’t need to arrange to get my car or anything else. Well, if I sell my car, the same thing would be true. I would still try to do the trip without using my money, but then if I end up wanting to live some there, I could use the money from selling my car to get transportation.

So, I wasn’t completely sure whether or not I wanted to sell my car, but the idea of having no possessions that would restrict my freedom appealed to me. I felt pretty good about it, so I decided to list my car for sale on Craigslist and KSL.com. After I had posted the car(I also posted my road bicycle), I started getting a bunch of calls from people. This is when I realized that I really didn’t want to sell my car. It made me really nervous to talk to people about it, and so I figured I should take it off the market. It didn’t last too long, but at least now I know that I don’t want to sell my car.

Now I’m back where I started. I’m not bringing my car with me, and I’m not selling it. I’ll still be doing my trip just like planned. I’ll hitchhike around the country by starting out with no money. Should be a good time.

I also talked to a reporter from the Deseret News today. It was a phone interview, and it was pretty fun. The part I found interesting were the questions she asked me. Most of my friends want to know what I’ll do in certain situations and the purpose behind the trip. She didn’t ask me at all about WHY I’m going on this trip. She asked more questions about what other people thought, how I got the idea, what I would do every day, etc. I guess it was interesting because she seemed to have less emotion connected with her questions than most people do. I guess reporters probably have to do that. Just get the facts and not get emotionally involved into the stories they are reporting on.

Anyway, she says that she will need to talk to her photographers and see if any of them are available to come and take pictures of me. They are busy during this time of year, so if none are available, I just told her I could have a friend take pictures of me getting rides or something. I guess we’ll see how it goes.