Introduction: The Wholehearted Journey

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Are you prepared to embark on a thrilling journey of self-discovery and growth? Have you ever thought about life as a chaotic motorcycle ride in a foreign city? Just like my bewildering experience of learning to ride a motorcycle in the bustling city of Akitos, Peru, life can be unpredictable and full of challenges. We often find ourselves without clear instructions or protective gear, navigating through a path filled with unexpected turns and thrilling accelerations. Join me in this episode as I draw parallels between this exhilarating experience and our journey through life.

In this eye-opening session, I'll be sharing some valuable life truths, skills, and tools that can help you maneuver through your journey. Be ready to tackle challenges that come your way and embrace the breathtaking environment you were created for. This episode is more than just a podcast, it serves as a metaphorical road map for your life. So, buckle up and prepare for a ride like no other! And if you want more, don't forget to visit JoelJohnsonorg to engage with the forward, introduction, and the first chapter, available both in written and audiobook versions for free.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to the Whole Hearted Journey podcast. My name is Joel and I'm so glad to be your guide on this journey. Here's how we're going to engage with this content. The first portion of the chapter will be an excerpt from the audiobook, and then the second portion of each chapter. I'm going to spend just a few minutes giving you a truth, something you can take away, that's going to give you value, a tool, a skill. You're going to love it. If, at any point during this audio podcast, you decide I want to read or I want to listen to the full chapter, you can do that totally for free at JoelJohnsonorg. We'd love for you to engage with the forward, the introduction and the first chapter. You'll get both the written version and the audiobook version. You're going to love it. You can get that at JoelJohnsonorg for free. Now let the journey begin. The Whole Hearted Journey by Joel Johnson, narrated by me. Joel Johnson Introduction.

Speaker 1: 1:12

I learned how to ride a motorcycle in a Kitos, peru. It was 1999 and I was a young minister there to share the gospel with the indigenous people living along the Amazon River. As I walked the motorcycle out through the door of the rental shop and onto the sidewalk, I kept trying to remember the five minute how to drive a motorcycle lesson I had just received from the helpful older man inside. It was a struggle to recall the information, primarily because the instructions were given entirely in Spanish. I took a few years of the language in high school, so the 20% that made sense kept my head nodding. See, I said Unfortunately I did not see. If you're a Westerner and have never experienced traffic in a third-world city like a Kitos driving, there is a brave new world. While there are roads, there aren't any real rules for them. Its vehicular Darwinism at its worst Survival of the fittest and the fastest. As a foreign motorist, I would have to adapt or face extinction. Oh, and did I mention the rental shop didn't supply helmets.

Speaker 1: 2:23

Now, on the sidewalk outside the shop, I threw my left leg over the motorcycle and gazed into the blur whizzing inches from my front. Tire Waves of motorcycles, scooters and three-wheeled rickshaws muscled their way down thin, twisting streets. The hum of a thousand rubber tires racing across old asphalt coalescing with the roar of a million spinning spokes electrified the air Horns snarled, engines crackled and popped. Charcoal-colored smoke swirled above the constant back and forth of glittering motorized steel. It was menacing, yet magical at the same time, I placed the heel of my sneaker on the kickstart and jumped down on it. The engine turned over and growl. I gave the throttle two quick twists, two deafening snarls discharged and I screeched out of the street. Instantly I was absorbed in the ocean of other motorists. I blasted my horn joining the din as we swelled around corners and spilled over hills. I took a sharp right turn, fully accelerated into it and sped off down a newly paved road leading into the Amazon.

Speaker 1: 3:37

That experience became a picture for me of life itself. It's dangerous and beautiful. It doesn't come with clear instructions or even a helmet, and requires that you do things you've never done before. What a way to start.

Speaker 1: 3:55

From the moment of birth, life really does demand that we do things we've never ever done before. Your first breath, your first step. I mean think about it your first. Everything comes without warning or training. I mean life simply just demands that you do it and your future just hangs in the balance until you do. I mean this is really how life welcomes you into the world.

Speaker 1: 4:22

Right, it's do or die. I mean think about this. There are no caveats, no primers provided on how to best transition. You simply go from liquid environment to land. Weller, I mean, you're forced to figure it out by breathing the atmosphere.

Speaker 1: 4:39

I mean, talk about do or die, right, none of us comes out of the womb even knowing we have lungs. Yet we figured out on the fly, don't we? Life pushes prods and pecs Until we do that thing we've never done or use that skill we never knew we had. And suddenly it's then we realize the breathtaking environment we were created for. It's important that all of us, we realize this, that even if you're not facing the menacing motorways of a strange land, like I was in Akitos, your situation is similarly do or die, as mine was. Don't miss this fact that, whether you're faced with challenges now or not, ones you've never faced before are coming sooner, and maybe sooner than you think. And all of us, we've got to be prepared for that. How do we get prepared? Well, that's what this book is all about. If you'd like to read the very gracious forward from John Eldridge, chapter one and the introduction, you can head to JoelJohnsonorg where you can download the chapters or the audiobook chapters for free.