Most Epic
Dear JimboWeekend Faithful,
I hate to even bring it up, but we’re not going to make it. No sir, not a single one of us will go living forever and/or get everything we want in life, but now that you know that, I’m here help you consider an alternative path. I’d like you to considering living the mostepic.
A life of most epic proportions is difficult to describe, but first I must warn you, my friends and I have been chasing the mostepic life for quite some time, and I’m convinced it’ll bring us to our death beds sooner or later. Take your pick, but we’ll surely pass from an extreme sport accident, a rare jungle disease, falling off a mountain, or chasing our dreams. Either way, I believe we’ll die smiling because we’ll have successfully fought for our #mostepic life.
Do you like stories? Because at the young age of 27 I have a #mostepic story for you…
It all started when got a summer job as a deckhand in college as I studied Mechanical Engineering. Back then, studying Mechanical Engineering was #notepic, but working on a boat was #fairlyepic. It wasn’t until the night hours on Farwell Ave in Milwaukee WI where #mostepic life was born in a house called “the Jungle.”
Any of the Jungle Mates (Spacek, Pat, Joe, or myself) could share stories about the #mostepic life in college, but living the #mostepic life isn’t always fun and games. Sometimes living the #mostepic will bring you a $4469 bill in damages before you get evicted…
(yes this is the actual report we had to show our parents)
My parents were not thrilled with the damages or my #mostepic lifestyle. Living alone became a new option that was gracefully presented to me. Enter Moxy, the #mostepic cat and side kick.
(Full name Moxy Cotton, named after Ocycontin since she’s as addicting as a drug but still soft as cotton)
Before I knew it, my most #mostepic life as a crazy cat man brought me Detroit, MI USA. Now if you know anything about America, the city of Detroit is one of the most exotic and desirable places to live… just kidding, Detroit is unfortunately #notthatepic. I’d spend about 3 years trying to settle while searching for a #mostepic life even though I was never able to find it there. Detroit did give me one thing; a #mostepic ambition to chase my dreams. Eventually I came to a simple realization, if I want to live my #mostepic life, then I must simply do that: fight to live my #mostepic dream….
How far would you go for your dream?
My journey took me Belgium a week after the city was attacked by bombs, into the Uganda Jungle where I volunteered at an orphanage, under the stars in the Sahara Desert where I lived with a Moroccan Family, 40 miles in a single day around the Island of Guernsey U.K. to raise money for charity, along the Italian Alps nearly getting attacked my sheep, corralling bulls in Ireland while they tried to run me over, into a Chateau in Central France where I lived in Le Ravelin (the gun room) cutting wood for 2 weeks straight, to the Hospital in Thailand, surfing across the beaches of Sri Lanka with my main man Chimika, to Melbourne Australia where I lived on a sailboat, dinner with Tom and Amy Maertz, and a top the Himalayan mountains in Nepal where I ate the same meal every day for two weeks straight (and yet I still carve Dal bhat).
I can’t even begin to describe what happened along the way, I’ve gained too many stories that I’d likely lose my fingers trying to type them all. This past year has been far beyond what #mostepic could even describe, but here is what I will tell you…
A dream can take you places you never thought possible, and those places have made me realize how lucky I am. After everything I’ve been through, I have new lesson I’ve learned: maybe life isn’t about living the #mostepic; maybe Life is about being #mostthankful for everything we have.
My journey will officially end in January 2017, but tomorrow night I’ll get on a plane to Hawaii where I’ll have successfully backpacked around the entire globe as I reach the USA again. With only two bags and a dream, I am #mostthankful for everything.
Whatever happens next, I’m here to tell you that life is not about whether or not we reach our dreams, but the pursuit of our dreams that makes our life worth living. If you’re even luckily enough to have a shot at your dreams, take it, because so few people ever get that chance.
When I decided to leave everything behind and chase mine, I had to remind myself that I wouldn’t regret it. I’m here to tell you the same thing, I didn’t regret it, and neither will you if you fight for your #mostepic life.
I set out to on my journey with one goal: to inspire the world through my writing. Here’s the important part, If you fight for your #mostepic dreams, then I have succeed in fulfilling my #mostepic dream. If you have the courage to fight for your dreams, then my dream lives on. If you fight for the life you imagine, I will be #mostthankful beyond what words could even describe.
Please realize that I’m only a message (Facebook/Instagram) or text away if you ever need advice in pursuit of your #mostepic life. For now, all I can do is leave with you with my favorite poem on the inside back cover of my hardcover book; the same one tattooed around my arm.
~Jimbo