Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk over 4 miles in a parade picking up trash along the way with no break?
Almost sounds like a new competitive sport. But it’s not.
Last night I did something I’ve never done before. I volunteered to pick up trash with Project Front Yard behind the Rio Parade in Lafayette, LA. It’s the peak of Mardi Gras season. So that means lavish balls, bead throwing parades and a lot of energy and excitement. Every year us southern folks get fancied up or costumed to participate in this cultural hallmark.
However, never have I ever picked up trash behind a moving parade all while dodging beads and trying to not to get ran over by the truck and trailer pulling all of our festive goodies (trash and broken, unwanted beads).
Why I am I telling you about me picking up trash?
Well, parades and the trash left over is much like life, messy and crazy with a little bit of fun along the way.
We are all at different points in our journey. But there are some things we can remember when picking up the trash in our lives to keep moving towards our whatever goal we’ve created.
Before You Begin: Commit to Show Up
I’ll be completely honest. I was not excited about picking up trash. In fact, I was dreading it. The weather had been yucky and walking in the rain wasn’t appealing (luckily it stopped). I even started thinking of ways I may get out of it (illness, car issues, family problems….) none of which were true. But I had committed to showing up. So despite my negative mindset, I showed up.
There are many times in life you will not feel like doing what you signed up to do. It may be a project, event, job, marriage, parenting, you name it, the list is endless.
The first step is saying you will and then showing up when it’s time despite how you feel.
Mile 1: Give Yourself a Learning Curve
If you’ve never done something before, remember YOU’VE NEVER DONE IT.
This may sound like a “duh” moment, but initially, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing. I knew I was picking up trash and beads which sounded easy enough, but I was struggling to prioritize what to pick up.
And I started trying to pick up everything (which is impossible by the way).
I would get frustrated when my trash picker upper wouldn’t put the trash where I needed it to go (user error?!). Then I walked right past a piece of trash because I didn’t have time to pick it up.
I even got hit by a few incoming beads due to standing too close to the trailer as the crowd threw beads back. And I didn’t figure the best course of action right away.
I had to learn by doing.
Please, give yourself a break when you start doing something you’ve never done before. Chances are you won’t figure it out right away, but keep going and you’ll get there.
Mile 2: Readjust
It was about at this point I realized the pace in which I was going and focusing on every piece of trash was not going to be sustainable if I was going to survive the whole trek without causing injury to myself.
I needed to readjust my focus and figure out what I was doing well and do that (instead of trying to do everything).
I realized picking up the beads wasn’t going well for me as I would accidentally chunk them at another volunteer (oopsy, whoopsy) or they would fall back onto the ground after trying to put them in the trailer. However, picking up trash along the way and placing it into a bag… well I wasn’t too shabby at that. I repositioned myself in front of the truck and focused on picking up the trash I saw within the time I had.
Sometimes we have to take time to readjust what we are doing, especially if what we are doing is not working. And that’s okay.
Mile 3: Stayed Focused
During a parade, it’s really easy to get distracted. There are excited, boisterous people behind barricades trying to grab the latest treasure from the passing float. Many times people would beg me to throw them something that had fallen in the street out of their grasp. Being the kind person I aspire to be, I would often chunk it back in their direction.
In the midst of distraction, I had to stay focused. I realized as long as I would look 2 feet ahead, keeping my eye on the end of the last float, I could stay where I needed to be without getting too far behind or placing myself in the path of the truck and trailer behind me.
There are many things or individuals vying for our attention.
Find something to fix your gaze on and you will eventually find yourself arriving at your destination.
Mile 4: Accept Encouragement
At this point along the journey, my whole body ached. I also started to develop a blister on the hand I was using to grasp for pieces of trash with. I was ready to give up and give in. This trash pick up marathon was challenging!
Just when I was ready to melt into a puddle on the pavement, I heard a parade attendee scream, “Thank you,” as our group walked by instead of, “Throw me something mister” (a phrase well used during the Mardi Gras season).
It reminded me that a little bit of encouragement goes a long way. Accept the encouragement others give you. We all need it from time to time.
Reaching the End: Acknowledging
When I reached the end of the parade route, I couldn’t believe it! We made it, and I was still able to stand. Over 4 miles and a trailer full of beads and trash bags later, the parade was over.
It wasn’t easy, but I made it. Taking it all in, I was pretty proud of myself for showing up and putting forward my best effort. I will not win any trash picker upper award anytime soon, but I hope did a little good in the world.
Many times when reaching the end of something hard or challenging we don’t give ourselves credit for what we accomplished or what it took to get there.
It’s always important to acknowledge yourself for showing up and getting to the end. There may not be anyone else with you at the finish line, but if you don’t give yourself credit for what you’ve accomplished, who will?
BE INSPIRED
What’s something you’ve shown up to before even when you didn’t want to and are glad you did? Comment below.
