Blog - Joshua Forester — Joshua Forester

Fear and Aspiration

Fear, instinctual and undeniable in all of us, surrounds the unknown. And a sure-fire way to summon the unknown and all the fear that comes with it into existence is to aspire to bring about change in our own lives. Make no mistake—aspiration is itself a rebellious provocation of fear; it is neither for the dutiful nor the cowardly. I’ve not met a single person that drastically bettered their lives that didn’t have to face down fears of their own. To choose it requires a form of intractable courage. In the words of Mark Twain, “Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.”

OtherJoshua ForesterApril 11, 2019The Lanier Lap, Eco Challenge Fiji Comments

Zion National Park/A Character Study

On this trip, he surprised me. Our first long trip with other people together in over two years of dating, I had yet to see him on anyone else’s timing. We are always rushing around on his energetic, ambitious schedule, me trying to keep up, always forgetting something, finagling a “fix” to work around its absence. This time, I found myself tapping my foot at times as Joshua comfortably dawdled, and I had to check myself. Joshua is not careless or flippant; even his dawdling has a purpose…

OtherShanna IrvingMarch 30, 2019Utah, Zion National Park, Shanna IrvingComment

2019 Goals

I set a goal. It is a big, fat, juicy goal. It is the kind Zig Ziglar spoke of when he said, “Set a goal SO BIG that you can’t achieve it until you GROW INTO THE PERSON WHO CAN.”; the kind you talk about, and people look at you with a blank face because they are waiting for a punch line but don’t want to offend by laughing at you on the off-chance it isn’t a joke. Given where I was in life, it was especially ludicrous. But I was not joking…

Cumberland Island Getaway

I attempted to walk with dignity to the ocean to wash them off, only to break into a run after I simply could not take it any more. Wading into the water was sweet relief, and for a wonderful moment I was both cool and relieved be bug free. It was at that moment I was surprised to see two dorsal fins in the shallows a mere hundred feet away. It became clear they weren’t dolphins when one of the sharks launched out of the water with a fish in front of its tooth-filled maw, the entranceway into its stomach opening and closing several times midair. I was in awe. It was one of those jaw-dropping moments on Shark Week where upon seeing it you swear off oceans for good. The shark was roughly 5-6 feet long head to tail, and I wouldn’t have guessed it to be in such shallow water. The dorsal fin of the other was no smaller. I was then faced with a decision--to stay in the water with the sharks, or to return to the sand gnats. With a vigilant eye focused on the sharks, I stayed. It was in this way I learned I hate sand gnats more than death…