Some people may think I'm obsessed with beardedness, but I assure you, I am not growing it anymore only to indulge my beardoholic tendencies, but it's shifted to man vs. self battle and man vs. man battle of pride. As my departure for Ecuador nears, I eagerly await reuniting with new friends from California. Bryce (a bearded elder) and I are having a beard race, so to shave now would be facial hair mutiny. The other and fresh reason for continued growth goes beyond the mere aesthetic design and all around visual appeal of a beard that stops the hearts of many, as I have now experienced the true functionality of this natural protein protection. During the sledding, the heels of my boots would occasionally clip the snowy tundra in front of me, shooting a spray of soft ice into my face.
please consider the following interview to understand more fully.
"Face, were you cold?"
"No, it was as if my chin follicles had planned this protection from the very beginning. This natural scarf was a shield to the elements greater than any purchasable product... which is why when I do shave I plan on selling my beard on ebay."
As the night went on and I fully understood that my face was warm without the aid of synthetic devices, joy abounded. It was assurance that I need to keep this going at least until after the climb up Mt. Cayambe. I have now appreciated catching ice in my beard through experience, the only way to truly know something.
Ryan Miller and I stumbled across a plank (2"x 6"x 10' perhaps) painted with orange and white stripes to grab the attention of drivers to alert them of a closed road. This road block guard rail was more than we had ever known. The thing just lay stagnant, silent, in solitude, while sledders did their party hop-slide down the slope. Ryan and I picked it up and almost instinctively and simultaneously thought "road block toboggan!?" We had our doubts but carried it eagerly to our group. No one thought it would work, but I didn't care what we thought, so with my usual dictatorship-style leadership, I commanded everyone to board the toboggan. Joe, volunteered to man the front, slipping one of the plastic floppy sleds under to help keep down bow-end friction. All five on board, we pushed off and glided, smoothly, with a clear destiny of reaching the bottom. Coming to a stop after what seemed like hours of gliding, we rose, beaming with confused surprise, high fives bringing our hands together in unity of newness, and friendship of shared accomplishment. So simple, yet so awesome.
Unplanned for maximum smile marks.
Which is abstractly related to something I've been exploring lately. Reactive versus proactive. Every emphasis in our culture of careers and cash, insurance and security, comfort and complexity, screams for proactive habits. This kind of American "life" demands our planning for everything just in case. If life is just covering bases to avoid danger, count me out, I'm dead to that, as Christ called us to pick up our crosses, he did not mean Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Carrying your cross, dying to yourself isn't about being proactive. Of course it's not necessarily about being reactive either, I'm just being reactive to the overabundance of proactive behavior. As if planning can save us. Having goals, hopes, dreams and plans are good. God is developing my passions even more as I seek, and I'm thankful for that. Planning and saving money for a specific purpose is important, my point is just that we should take the act of being reactive out of the bad light that it's in.
A definition I found for reactive is "readily responsive to a stimulus." To be reactive is to allow emotion. Because the stimulus is often times a surprise, the reaction can be any range of expression. Some synonyms of reactive are conscious, keen, receptive, understanding, aware, responsive, soft-hearted. A couple antonyms are apathetic and insensitive.
Thus, be reactive and proactive. After all they go hand in hand. If you react to some kind of negative circumstance, it is hopefully a proactive decision for the future to avoid that negative situation again. If you decide to be proactive and begin a retirement fund, it's probably a reaction to respected instruction from a loving friend, or fear.
Reactivity and proactivity are not actually contending against each other; these entities work together. The important thing to think about is what core emotion motivates your decisions. Fear or love?
Let it be love.
Experience it.
Love casts out fear. Road block toboggan rides do too.
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