One of the themes for this week is adventure. And no one exemplifies that better than Lya Badgley, a woman whose life reads like an adventure novel filled with courage, resilience, and the pursuit of an authentic existence.
Lya’s story begins in the vibrant landscapes of Southeast Asia, where she was born. She traveled the world with her parents, and those travels would shape her world view.
Lya shares how a diagnosis of MS led her to become ever more adventurous.
“Choices that you’ll make that appear reckless to the people around you and to society. But you’re thinking, I don’t care, right? What’s the worst that can happen? I could die?”
I have to admit I relate to this sentiment. I lost a decade of my life to a rare neurologic disease, myasthenia gravis. The next decade of my life might be characterized by my taking some wild risks: flying sailplanes (ie, high performance gliders) over often un-landable terrain. This video will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
Like Lya, I faced a future filled with uncertainty. Instead of succumbing to fear, we both chose to embrace the unknown and to allow illness to become a catalyst for a life of unexpected adventures. In Lya’s case that meant crossing borders into Burma and even opening a restaurant in a foreign land. Lya’s narrative is a powerful reminder that our most significant challenges can lead to our most extraordinary achievements.
And be sure to check out Lya’s books “The Foreigner’s Confession” and “The Worth of a Ruby,” which explore the themes of global conflict and personal resilience.
Paul Zolman has a different take on adventure. For him, adventure meant looking within and unraveling some familial behavioral patterns that dominated his life. What he found on the other side was greater peace and an understanding of his own love language. Do you know your love language? And why it matters?
YouTube Video: Coming Soon!
Bump is moving into the modern world with video conversations! Stay tuned! In the meantime, the audio version of each podcast is available on YouTube as well as all major podcast platforms.
If you enjoy the podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts! The link for reviews is at the bottom of the podcast page.
It's A Book!
The incredible wisdom of four years of podcasts has become a book. The first in a series of inspiring books about how people navigate their bump in the road.
And it's an Amazon best seller!
What they're saying:
“We are taught as we grow up about what impresses others but not about how to find our way and live our lives. When you know where you are going, the bumps are nonexistent or meaningless and cannot stop our moving forward and living a full life.” -Bernard Siegel, MD
“This is a beautiful book about life, its imperfections, its challenges, and its joys. It is a book of hope and wisdom for all of us facing a bump in the road.”
-Pragito Dove
“It is easy to find the personal in the general; it is quite another thing to find the general in the personal. Pat Wetzel has done that for us. Like the Zen Master in chapter 24, she has shown us how to fill ourselves with wisdom with personal stories with which we all can identify.”
-Bill Aron