I DROVE THROUGH 16 STATES BY MYSELF WITH POST-CONCUSSION SYNDROME!

I can't believe I actually did it! Somehow, I managed to drive Jayla and I across the country and back safely, and we had a blast while doing it!

*(click the photo to watch this video)

Yes, there were many challenges along the way, but there were so many good memories made, a lot of which were captured on camera. This blog though, will give you a look into all the things that happened that maybe didn't make it on camera. A behind the scenes look, if you will, that will give you a sneak peek into our road trip, and the many adventures that followed.

“Looking back, I'm like, "WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?!"

Choosing to do something like this, and without Jason, first off, was completely out of character for me, and secondly, I think I was crazy for actually doing it! Especially since my designated "co-captain," my daughter Jayla, was too young to drive. It was literally just me that we were depending on to get us from Ohio to California and back. The plan originally was to caravan out to Cali with my parents, but that never seemed to happen. We would end up at the same hotel, but we were never together on the road. I think my parents gave me too much credit and had an overabundance in their faith in my abilities, and probably more so than they should have, and if I'm being honest, I didn't want them to know how bad I was since I was driving their car. So, it was just me, one mentally impaired driver & a blonde 13-year-old with, shall I say, sub-par navigating skills, and we were somehow going to make it to California, and get there in time for my cousin's wedding...yeah, this was going to go well!

Looking back, I'm like, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!" I mean it took me forever just to learn how to operate a car after my head injury, and here I was choosing to drive my daughter and I across the country by myself. Just saying that, I was crazy! After all my response time was slow, and my ability to multitask, well it was nonexistent in the beginning. If you are unfamiliar with what post-concussion syndrome is, it is essentially the same as having a concussion, but the symptoms of post-concussion syndrome can last weeks, months, years, or a lifetime in some cases. For me it has been over 2 years now of living with horrible symptoms like dizziness, nausea, constant severe headaches, and a whole lot of cognitive issues, to say the least. It was and still is hard for me to do things that may seem like the simplest of tasks, let alone drive anywhere. Unless you were witnessing me trying to solve a problem or failing at performing a simple task, you would probably think by looking at me that I was perfectly fine, and aside from the pain, I think my parents thought that too.

Before my head injury driving was just second nature and seemed relatively simple. After having the head injury, I was so overwhelmed with how many little things you have to think about and do, and all at the same time. When to start slowing down or stop, turning signals, windshield wipers, remembering what traffic signs, symbols, and lights meant were all really challenging for me.

“I am telling you, the fact that I made it to my grandparent's house in California, heck, the first hotel, was nothing short of miraculous!"

Once I got past the stage of actually learning how to operate a car, I was always getting lost and finding myself often confused at where I was or even where or why I was going somewhere in the first place. It took a lot of repetition of going to the same place over and over again for things to stick in my memory for any length of time. When I would decide to go somewhere new it was like having to learn things all over again. Even with having apps to help guide me, I struggled to not just listen, but understand the directions I was being given. It was like they were speaking French, and I just had no clue what it was telling me to do. I remember so many moments of complete frustration and total breakdowns that I had in the car just a matter of a two or three months before leaving for this trip. There were many times that I would be on the side of the road and calling Jason in tears because I had no clue where I was or how to get back home. I am telling you, the fact that I made it to my grandparent's house in California, heck, the first hotel, was nothing short of miraculous!

I jokingly would tell people that my GPS stood for "God Positioning System," but really it was so true. God was the only way I was able to make it to any of the stops we had planned, and the many we didn't have planned. Sometimes the coolest things, and our most memorable stops were the places we not only didn't have planned, but we would have never known that they existed, had we not happened upon them by "accident."

This trip really taught me so many amazing lessons about faith and having blind trust to just follow where God was leading, even when I felt like I was lost. I often found that when I feel the most lost, I'm not really lost at all, I am just in a different place than where I thought we would or should be. And being "lost" can provide unexpected blessings in disguise, providing you with new places, new experiences, and new memories that may have never been made otherwise. Road tripping out to California really helped me embrace the unplanned and the unexpected. That is a lot coming from, since I am the ultimate type A personality and I over plan everything! I got so excited with every new place we would see whether planned or not. God changed my viewpoint from seeing myself as lost to the mindset that we were just going to see extra places and maybe take extra time to get to our stopping points. This often led to lack of sleep, but that's a whole different story.

I have to say that stepping out in faith like this led me to feel freer than I have ever felt in my life. It was truly refreshing to leave behind my life of isolation and darkness that I experienced after my injury, to venturing out to wide open and unknown spaces. At home I just felt like I was trapped and stuck in total darkness 99% of the time because of my injury. I didn't feel like I was living anymore, and that I was only a spectator of other's lives and a witness to their happiness and successes. I felt like I had lost everything that was important to me in life. I had lost my job, my health, my concept of who I was, and I had ultimately lost hope and sight of my purpose in life.

BUT, without those losses, I would have never been able to say YES to such an amazing, once in a lifetime experience like this road trip was. I mean how many people are able to take almost 2 months off of work, and step away from their normal commitments and obligations? The injury that had stopped my current life, now opened up my life to things I never dreamed possible. Because of my injury my schedule was completely free. There was literally nothing keeping me from saying yes, except for my own fears and doubts at the time. These so called "losses" helped me be able to say yes to the biggest adventure of my life! Being able to go on this road trip helped me reconnect with God, it grew my faith, it brought me closer to my daughter and gave us such an amazingly strong bond, and it stripped away all the distractions and stresses of life. It helped me realize that I really didn't lose any of the things that I was actually meant to keep. Yes, I loved the job I was at, but it wasn't utilizing all of my God given gifts to their full potential. God used this road trip to get me out of my comfort zone, away from my norm, and he introduced a completely new perspective on life.

When I thought I had lost everything, I really gained the world (or in my case, the great US of A). God opened my eyes to my true passions and abilities that I had not fully stepped into, which are filming, editing, writing, and he reignited an old desire to inspire others to live a full life of rich faith. I love to teach, and I believe the best lessons are taught by example. I truly hope to use all the gifts and abilities God has given me, in and through Reising Up's YouTube channel, this Adventure Blog, and whatever other ideas God throws at me to inspire others to be brave enough to take that first step of faith, into whatever adventure it is that God is calling you to take.

I am going to leave you with these questions to ask yourself...

What is your greatest "loss" in life?

Is there something that God is asking you to let go of so that he can give you something even better?

Where is God asking you to take the first step of faith in your life?

Challenge yourself! Answer those hard questions. Get alone with God and really listen to what it is he may be trying to tell you.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 The Message version says this...

"I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out---plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree."