Last Saturday I volunteered to help at a bike ride event. I woke up early to help bikers sign in and get prepared for the event. It was a 30-mile bike ride on a bike trail. I asked a few questions to the organizers of the event about the bike ride and they told me it’s been going on for years– one in the spring and another in the fall. This took me by surprise because I lived in this city for my entire life yet this was the first I heard about this event.
I realized that despite living in a city my entire life, I know little to nothing about what events are going on. Perhaps this is because I rarely left my neighborhood while growing up. But I can’t be the only person to feel this way: not knowing everything about something you were familiar with for so long. A couple weeks back my cousin complained that the flashlight on her phone was not bright enough. I asked her if the level of her phone’s flashlight was at max. She didn’t know her phone’s flashlight had different levels of brightness. She’s had her phone for a little under a year. It goes to show that we don’t always know about the things we use every day.
But that’s only the first step.
The next step is to want to learn about the things we already know.
In my case, the next step would be to inquire others about upcoming events and traditions in my city and do my own research. I might even go as far as to participate in them. It’s true that there is a lot we don’t know about out there. But it can also be true that there’s little that we don’t know about the things we do know. I hope that makes sense.
Perhaps I’ll volunteer again in the next bike ride event, or maybe I’ll become a participant. But that’s a story for another time.
TAKEAWAY: Learn about the things you thought you knew.
Here’s my inspiration for the day