I'm overwhelmed.

The past six months of my life have been overwhelming to say the least. I graduated from college and then went on a worldly adventure. Upon arriving home, I left my family and friends to set out on another adventure to travel for a year with the African Children’s Choir. Since arriving back in the States I have been looking for a word to describe this feeling that was deep down in the depths of my soul. The word I eventually stumbled upon was… Overwhelmed.

You may ask yourself, how or why I could ever be overwhelmed? It seems like I have my life together and sorted out very well. Which is true, but only partially true. You see, I am nowhere near perfect and still have a lot of growing to do.

I’m overwhelmed with the fact that I am entering adulthood (Like the actual real thing. The kind where you have to pay your own bills and the idea of moving out of your parent’s house is also a real thing). It feels like just yesterday that I was just a kid and causing trouble in the neighborhood. Now I’m making decisions that will impact and affect me now and later on in life. I have a legitimate degree that will allow me to educate children and fulfill a life long childhood dream. It is no longer my parents looking after me, but instead me learning how to take the ropes in my life decisions.

I’m overwhelmed with the people that I’ve met and that I continue to meet. I have crossed paths with so many awesome and fabulous people. I’ve met new best friends, secret lovers (I wish! I’m only kidding), soul mates and mentors. I am amazed by each person’s kind and humble spirit. I’m also overwhelmed with knowing that it will be harder to see and keep in contact with my friends from college due to all of us going off in different (and awesome) directions.

I’m overwhelmed with the experiences that I’ve had and will be blessed with in this next year. I have no idea what is in store for me this year or when I eventually make it back to Illinois next July. And that is intimidating.

I have a sense of peace in the craziness. I know that the overwhelming feeling is something that is for good due to all the things mentioned above being positive. So from this point I take each day step by step, with a huge smile on my face and a lot of love in my heart. It’s cool knowing that the big man upstairs has got it all figured out. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna make this next adventure one heck of a time. And instead of that being overwhelming, it’s rather exciting.

“I delight myself in You,

Captivated by Your beauty.

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You.”

Raju the Rickshaw Driver

I want to tell you about an amazing rickshaw driver that I have had the pleasure of getting to know while I’ve been in Pune, India. His name is Raju and he lives in the same neighborhood that I am staying in this month. His profession is driving rickshaws (which may be the equivalent to a taxi in the States) around the city to locals and foreigners. 

Raju has a very good reputation around Sangam, the place I am staying at this month. I heard so many positive things about this “amazing rickshaw man” long before I even had the pleasure of meeting him. My initial thoughts were, ‘what could be so special about him and why is everyone obsessed with him?” After spending 10 minutes with him however, I knew all the answers to the questions that loomed in my head previously.

The thing that makes Raju so special is that he just has this natural kindness and humbleness about him. You just see joy oozing out of him. He isn’t kind or nice because he expects anything in return; rather it just comes from the bottom of his heart. He has a smile that makes you smile and instantly draws you closer to him. His laugh fills the space around him and is very contagious.

The rickshaw stand that he is based out of is right down the street from where I live. He greets me most mornings at the rickshaw stand while I am trying to convince one of the drivers to take me to work. My day is instantly a million times better if he is around and will drive us to work.

One of my favorite times with Raju was on a day off during the middle of my stay at Sangam. My friends and I decided that we would spend our morning going to the post office, paper factory and out to lunch. When we arrived at the rickshaw stand that morning we were greeted by Raju with a huge smile and a sense of eagerness to see where we were going. He agreed to take us to the post office and knew exactly where it was. Once we got there he insisted on waiting for us while we were inside so he could take us wherever we wanted to go next. Sure enough, he was outside waiting for us after I spent about 30 minutes inside the building trying to figure out how the Indian postal system works.

Our next destination was a paper factory in town. We arrived there and got a really cool tour of the whole facility, in addition to buying some handmade goods. After spending about an hour and a half inside we were surprised to find Raju still eagerly waiting for us outside in the courtyard. On our way to lunch we drove through a very busy part of town. While driving we spotted a car next to us with a very cute puppy in it. My friend and I squealed and got very excited. Raju looked over to see the puppy and got just as excited as I was. The traffic flow soon made it so the car with the puppy was a distance in front of us. Without hesitation, Raju sped up and weaved through traffic until we were directly next to the same car again. At the same moment, all three of us started talking in high pitch voices saying, “Puppy! Puppy!” All eyes were on this adorable puppy and not paying attention to the busy Indian roads. After the car drove away we were just left to continue laughing so hard. I haven’t genuinely laughed that hard in a very long time.

Raju is all around just a rock star. He is kind, humble, funny, smart and eager to help. His goal isn’t just to make money off you, but to show you the authentic and genuine India. His India.