Inspired once again.

So I just got back from the Wild Canyon Games, hosted at Creekside lodge and Washington family ranch by Antelope, Oregon. These games help promote money for four distinct charities chosen by the founders of WCG. Teams from all over the country travel there in groups of around 10 or less, to compete in extremely physically and mentally demanding events. Some of these activities include geo cashing, which is almost like hide and seek on steroids across mountains and rivers, a 10k, ropes course, long distance sprints, biking contests, mountain biking, long distance swims, quick swims, relays, etc. These people vary from always living an extremely fit and active life style to just wanting to see what they are capable of. I volunteered there this weekend, and I got to serve a few tables of active military men who were sponsored to take part in these events. They were so grateful for my service, but honestly, being able to serve people who have dedicated their entire lives to protect this country was one of the biggest honors I have experienced in my life so far. As a volunteer, I served in the dining hall and got to feed and clean up after around 1000 people. Waking up early to prepare and going to bed late to finish up was hard on all of our bodies, but it taught us a miniature lesson of what all the competitors exemplified. It is hard for people to realize what they are capable of, whether it’s good or bad. Naturally, it seems we don’t have enough confidence to do something big or something that might impact a lot of people even if it is an extremely good thing. Our actions also effect others in ways that we don’t understand. The smallest of actions can make the biggest differences in peoples lives. If you enable something to happen, to me, that’s just as harmful as doing it yourself. Why not utilize our time to the fullest in order to get the most out of life? I keep being lucky enough to have these experiences such as volunteering at WCG where I get to see the human capacity for good and joy. At WCG, disabled veterans and athletes got a chance to compete and blow everyones mind when it came to how much they accomplished in a single weekend. Since nobody who was serving them was getting paid, everyone knew that we wanted to be there. That made them happy and always allowed room for conversation between volunteers and competitors. I had a fantastic weekend learning and growing and seeing people from all over the world participating in something that was genuinely just good, healthy, and untampered by societal depressants such as phones, TV, politics, etc. Sometimes, we all need a little reminder of what the bigger picture is, and how much we are truly capable of.