There Is A First Time For Everything

Summary

Rasheed Hooda recounts his journey walking Route 66, sharing personal growth experiences and reflecting on the lessons learned from stepping out of his comfort zone.

Abstract

Rasheed Hooda, a published author and top writer on Medium, narrates his experience of walking the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, detailing the challenges and triumphs he faced along the way. He describes how the journey forced him to learn new skills, such as patching a tire, and how these experiences contributed to his personal development. Hooda emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort to foster growth and self-discovery. His story includes interactions with locals, daily blogging, and the joy of overcoming obstacles. The narrative is punctuated by reflections on the value of trying new things and the satisfaction that comes from pushing one's limits.

Opinions

Hooda values the growth that comes from facing unexpected challenges, as evidenced by his pride in patching a tire for the first time.
He appreciates the support and kindness of strangers, such as the fire station volunteer and the chief who provided him with a place to stay and food.
Hooda believes in the importance of sharing his journey with others, as indicated by his weekly calls with WLCN 96.3 FM and his invitation for readers to join him on his adventure.
He sees the journey as a metaphor for life, highlighting the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone to experience fulfillment.
Hooda enjoys engaging with his audience, as shown by his mention of friends in his narrative and his encouragement for readers to interact with him through comments.
He finds joy in the simple things, like a slice of pumpkin spice, raisin, and walnut bread, and sees these moments as highlights of his journey.
Hooda uses his experiences to inspire others to explore their own boundaries and to find happiness in new experiences.

(Read from the start) The saga continues…

Anytime Fitness, where I spent the night, was different from others I had used in the past. For one thing, it was considerably busy, even late at night. Also, they had men’s and ladies' locker rooms. The men’s locker room wasn’t very roomy, but I managed.

After breakfast, I went to the laundromat to get the cleaning done, and while the clothes were in the washer, I got my weekly call from WLCN 96.3 FM. I looked forward to these 10–15 chats with Bill Gossett and Judy Busby.

The next stop was Anytime Fitness again. This time to thank them and drop off the certificates for the free pizzas. “Oh, so you’re the guy I got all these messages about.” Guilty as charged.

A couple of days earlier, I had fixed one of the tires on my stroller with a fix-a-flat type filler. Well, the same tire was flat again. It was time for a first. I took the tire off the stroller and applied a patch to the inner tube.

Kellyville is only eight miles fro Supalpa. It took me less than three hours to get there. As I neared the town, I heard plop, plop, plop. Dangit! Lunch first, as the restaurant was only a couple of hundred yards away, the tire can wait.

The GPS showed a park downtown, but the waitress said that the fire station would be a better choice. A volunteer was present at the station. I explained my situation to him, and he called the chief. While we were waiting for the chief to call us back, I used the sink at the fire station to discover a second puncture and fixed it too.

Chief had approved the stay and swung by to meet me and show me the spot where I would spend the night. There was an electric outlet there, and I charged my phone and power banks. While I was updating my blog on Patreon, the chief and the missus came by with some hot food. She wanted to make sure that I was fed properly.

The chicken and noodles tasted like chicken and dumplings, except without the lumps, and for dessert, she had packed a slice of pumpkin spice, raisin, and walnut bread.

How does it get any better than this?

As I think back and ponder.

I am not mechanically oriented, not in the least. A handyman, I am not. But when you are faced with unexpected circumstances, you learn and grow. You find out things about yourself that you didn’t know. When I patched that tire for the first time, I felt so proud of myself that it put an extra zip in my steps.

Can you think of a time when you stretched your comfort zone and did something you didn’t think you could? I bet it felt good.

Just for fun.

I am going to share something different today. I hope you enjoy it. I know Elisabeth will. The song dates back to 1951, that’s older than I am. Touch of Charlie Chaplin. Aawara →vagabond. (Bollywood, before it was called that.)

I invite you to tag along if you’re up to it. I am mentioning a few friends who may be interested in it. If you are tagged but don’t want to read my stories daily, let me know in the comments, and I will remove your name moving forward. If you are reading this and aren’t included in the list below, but you’d like to come along, let me know so that I can add you.

WALKING ROUTE 66

There Is A First Time For Everything

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Four years ago, I walked Route 66 — from Chicago to Santa Monica and blogged about it daily. Now, I am reflecting on the lessons learned along the way.

(Read from the start) The saga continues…

As I think back and ponder.

Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.

Just for fun.

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

Here are some of my other stories:

Weekly Recaps of Walking Route 66 Stories

From Chicago to Santa Monica in 186 days.

Why You Must Stay in Your Comfort Zone

Your Success depends on it

Illuminating Mister Weirdo

Introducing myself to the community

Interview with Rasheed Hooda

I believe it takes a “real man” (in terms of social dictates and mandate) to be able to honor and express how one…