The Triple 7 Expedition was a journey like no other. Six days, six hours, and six minutes after leaping out of an airplane above the frozen expanse of Antarctica, we accomplished our mission on a drop zone in Australia. Despite how great it felt to break three longstanding world records, this expedition was never about the destination—it was always about the journey and those jumping alongside us.
As the plane carried the team up above the clouds during that first jump, nervous anticipation washed over us. At times like these, our minds can run wild, and that doubt we all experience can creep in and take hold. As we jumped out of the aircraft and fell through the Arctic air, minds cleared and doubt dissolved into an overwhelming feeling of freedom.
Over the next week, we’d spend more than 100 hours at airports or in the air and more than 480 hours away from our families. The team traveled the world in coach, meaning we endured long flights with little leg room and occasionally had to sit in the dreaded middle seat. However, supporting a great nonprofit like Folds of Honor with friends made the discomfort well worth it.
That’s because nothing matters more than those who join us on our journeys. We often rush through life without taking the time to appreciate the remarkable individuals around us. In 2023, our team is working to be more mindful of this; after all, we never get that time back.
As we reflect on the whirlwind of the past few weeks, we circle back to a big theme in The Everyday Warrior: A No-Hack, Practical Approach to Life book. An overarching theme is that life is about the journey, not the destination. Those quiet moments may feel like valleys between subsequent peaks, but when we look back on life years from now, we’ll see these weren’t valleys at all. They were summits.
That’s not to say the team didn’t love breaking three world records. (We did!) But long after the soreness in our knees fades and teammate Mike ‘Boots’ Barker recovers from being stuffed into a middle seat during a particularly long flight, we’ll cherish the moments leading up to the big stuff.
Each of these experiences brings us one step closer to accepting the journey means far more than the destination ever will.
So, embrace it with all its twists and turns. It’s in the laughs we share, the fights we wage, and the risks we take that we’ll learn not only what it means to be alive but also what it means to live.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/wbtHd08
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