Risk. Oh how I Love taking them. I live for not knowing the outcome. It keeps life interesting and makes me feel ALIVE!
In April 2016, I pulled one of the biggest risk in my life. I decided to fly to Thailand with a complete stranger in order to fill my cup of traveling. One of the most ridiculous but well worth decisions I have made. Let me tell you about this out of the box experience I decided to jump into head first.
Many of my nursing friends told me they found my perfect best friend. A person who loves to travel as much as I do but also is driven to make something of himself. My first thought, “yeah, their is something wrong with him. He must have a fetish for feet or something”. I have came to the conclusion that if someone has the same passions as myself than there is more to them that no one sees. After a couple of Instagram stalks here and there, he seemed to be in the clear. Messages turned into phone calls then to hang outs. It is funny because I remember my exact thought when I first met this guy. What kept going through my head was, “Okay, he is awkward as heck and I am talking to myself… Do I go to the bathroom now to run or do I suffer through?”. Somehow, we planned another day to hang out and started talking about our passion for traveling. Since we both are nursing students, we only get a short amount of break between semesters. I mentioned how I wanted to travel somewhere during break then our friendship took off. We looked up tickets to Thailand and bought them on the spot. In three weeks, we would be on a plane together for 18 hours. Remind you, I did not even know this guys last name.
Person after person, I kept getting the question ‘what was I thinking?’. To me, it did not seem like a big deal. I do stuff like this all the time. What is the difference with traveling across the world with a stranger? If anything, I could ditch the guy in Thailand and meet up for our flight back home. No big deal.
My decision did not hit me until we were on the plane together ready to take off… I am traveling with a total stranger who could be planning my death in Thailand (worst case scenario). Defiently not the brightest moment of Mary Kozar. At this point, it was to late to back out. Our plane was about to take off and I was traveling with an awkward stranger.. Go me…
10 days have passed and it was time to fly back home. I left to an unfamiliar country with a person I barley knew and came back with a person I now consider one of my best friends. Conclusion, it was one of the best trips I have ever been on and it was because of the person I chose to share this experience with. Come to find out, this guy and I were the exact same person to the point where it is scary. We shared laughter, experience, and memories I will never forget. We both recognized how crazy the decision was to travel together but thanked God for it.
I tell you about this experience because God can be funny sometimes. He tends to make me laugh all the time because of the situations He places me in. I prayed a lot during the trip to Thailand with this stranger and the message I always received back was ‘Trust me’. So I did just that. I decided to give all my worries to God and enjoy the blessing He has given me now. That is all He wants, to Trust him.
Many of us miss the blessings God wants to give us by staying in our comfort zone. God is constantly trying to shape each one of us into the person He created us to be. This can only happen when we put our worries to the side and focus on what God is doing with this. Sometimes it could be talking to a stranger at a coffee shop or going across the world with them. At the end of the day, the experience will bring more growth of joy and happiness rather than the thinking of ‘what if’. God wants us to see through His eyes rather than our worldly eyes.
I challenge you to embrace any situation that you encounter and welcome it with open arms. God has a purpose for each experience we come across. It is our choice whether we will accept the hidden blessing or stay in our safe zone.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths”
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Adventure to Home 