My Discovery On The Sand Bar

One of the most intense experiences I’ve had in life was when I was a teenager.  Every year for the fourth of July my family would go to South Dakota (my parents still do this every year when possible) to be with our family there.  My dad’s side of the family settled in South Dakota, and we have a family ranch there that is run by one of my dad’s brothers.

Every year we would go to the nearby dam in the Missouri river to go boating, tubing, and to just have fun in the water with family.  There was always so much excitement being with cousins and getting to just play all day and all night without, as far as we could tell, any restrictions.

I was always just focused on spending time with my extended family and having fun, so I never really considered much else.  I was sort of stuck in my own little bubble.  Because of this, I never really discovered very many new things, and I didn’t ever really see the world outside of my bubble.  I thought I was happy and content with things just being that way.

One of the things that really opened my eyes to new ideas and the joy of learning, growing, and discovering was accidentally finding a sand bar.  Typically we were told that sand bars weren’t safe, but I never really understood why since I’d never been on one.  In this case, we all went on the sand bar, and we made sure to take life jackets and watch out for the little kids.

Once I was on the sand bar, it was amazing to look out at the river from the middle of it.  I could see the shore on either side, and it was amazing.  It was like I was standing on top of the water.  I had never seen the river from this point of view before, and I thought it was awesome.  This experience helped me realize how great it is to discover new things, and how constantly striving to become better day to day can be a lot of fun.