What Did You Learn?

I used to tell my students the most important thing they could learn was how to learn. Mostly they’d stare back at me with that teenage eye-rolling look that says, “Will this be on the test?”

It’s okay. I hope they discovered over time that learning doesn’t stop at graduation.

When I complete a project I try to take time to ask what I learned from the experience. Sometimes I encounter new insights, often it’s new reminders of familiar principles. Either way, I think this reflection is one way of listening to how God wants me to grow as we follow the dream that’s become RICH’S RIDE.

So here are a few principles that emerge as I think back over Front Range FREEDOM Tour.

Relationships, relationships, relationships. Dollars, miles, and whatever else is involved don’t matter unless they lead to deeper connection with God, self, and others.

Here’s the interesting paradox of God’s economy—when I do things in a manner that values relationships, the other stuff tends to work itself out.

Plan less, prepare more. A detailed, minute-by-minute plan is great, but you know before you start that something will knock it off the rails. Illness, flat tires, road construction—those are realities on the road.

Preparation and training allow you the flexibility to adapt and keep moving when something doesn’t go according to plan.

Focus on the mission. I tend to get flustered by things that don’t have much impact on what I’m trying to accomplish. Wasted worry, wasted effort.

When I let go of what doesn’t matter I’m free to enjoy the ride and do what God’s placed before me.

There’s no finish line. Goals and celebrations are important. I love the time to savor the accomplishment, to rest and reflect. But we’re each writing a story with the life God gave us. As long as we’re here, the close of each chapter is an opportunity to begin the next.

The important work isn’t finished.

And don’t roll your eyes at me!

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