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Boston

Now that this trip has been over for a few weeks, I’ve finally processed this enough to where I think I can write about it. You see, sometimes I write really slow.

I’d been to Boston before, but it had been over 10 years ago and I wasn’t old enough at the time to really appreciate it. Having been back for a couple of weeks now, if you’ve never been to Boston before it’s an incredibly nice city. If you’re a history person like I am, then there might not be a better city in the US to visit. Since Boston was essentially the birthplace of the American Revolution, history is literally everywhere. Boston is also probably the most European-like city in the US, maybe even in North America. It’s compact, easily walkable, and the mass transit system is excellent.

I could probably write several posts on this trip, but I’ll condense it to one. For now, anyway.

Some of the highlights:

  • The entire North End. In addition to it being one of the most European-looking parts of Boston with cool architecture, the food in this area of town is excellent. Even though the restaurant Giacomo’s has tons of awesome reviews on TripAdvisor, the restaurant Ben Cotto right next door is awesome too!
  • AirBnb. Even though this may seem a bit odd to include this on this list, this trip was the first time I used AirBnb and I’m convinced that using AirBnB versus a traditional hotel made for a better trip, and saved us money in this case. I’ll probably write a post later on my first experience using AirBnB.
  • Bell In Hand. Designated as the oldest tavern in America (in continuous operation since 1795), this cool gastropub is also right next to the Freedom Trail, in the North End.
  • Union Oyster House. In addition to the restaurant itself being famous, the building this restaurant is in is so old that there are no records of when it was actually built. Just down the street from the Bell In Hand Tavern.
  • The Freedom Trail. If you are a history person, this 2.5-mile walking tour covering a lot of things related to the American Revolution and US independence is definitely something you need to do during your time there. We didn’t quite get all the way to the end, the USS Constitution was the farthest we got.
  • Mike’s Pastry Shop, in the North End.
  • A Red Sox game at Fenway Park. During my time in Boston, I was lucky enough to catch a Red Sox-Yankees home game that the Red Sox won on a walk-off home run to end the series. If MLB is in season while you are there, definitely try to catch a game.

The trip was a lot of fun, and Boston is a really cool city.

 

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On Fear of the Unknown

We all struggle with fear of the unknown to a degree. It’s easy to worry, to stress, to think about all the little things in your life that could happen or go wrong. It’s normal to be worried or stressed, so long as that stress is at a healthy level. When you’re overthinking, your brain goes in 1,000 different directions and it does nothing but stress you out. The scenarios you think about become speculation rather than things that might actually happen. Just because of my personality, I overthink things more than I should. So I’m more than familiar with what it’s like to conjecture about all of the things that could go wrong in your life.

But the problem with fear of the unknown (and a big problem of overthinking too) that I’ve realized is that we nearly always place far too much emphasis on the negative things. Rarely, if ever, do we focus on the positives. And you only can realize that when you’re not in a mode of overthinking. But then when something bad happens to us or we’ve hit some kind of a setback, it goes completely out the window and we start stressing all over again.

In any tough situation, we forget about the positive things that are already in our lives. Our family, our friends, our activities and hobbies that we enjoy. Your job that even if it’s not your favorite allows you to earn an income and provide for yourself and allows you the opportunity to spend time with your friends and your family.

You may be worried about the future, but what if you also feel like you’re not where you want to be? Maybe you don’t like your job. Maybe you don’t have a job and you’re looking for one. Maybe you don’t like where you live. Or perhaps there’s another situation in your life where you know you’re not where you want to be.

The reality is that we find ourselves in those types of situations a lot, myself included. Big things and small things, there are always areas where we can and need to improve or do better. But when these kinds of thoughts start running through our heads, we often feel isolated. This is one of the key tactics that the enemy uses to attack us. The enemy wants us to feel isolated, alone, and powerless. And fear of the unknown and the uncertainty that comes with life in general, especially when trying to plan for the future, can definitely make us feel alone. But we have to remember that we’re not alone, and we’re not powerless. The enemy wants to make us think that we’re alone, but we can’t believe the enemy’s lies. Because lies are all the enemy has. And by definition, lies are not true.

So when we’re overthinking, what do we do?

When you’re facing a lot of uncertainty, it’s hard to remember that you’re not alone. But God is always with us. One verse that always sticks out to me any time I’m overthinking things and then sit back and reflect is Jeremiah 29:11

“For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.” Jeremiah 29:11 BBE

Thoughts of peace. Thoughts that will give us hope. No matter the situation we’re in.

“Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort” Psalm 23:4 BBE

God is always with you.

Hopefully these verses encourage you as much as they encourage me when I’m in a situation where I’m facing a lot of uncertainty.

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Why I Decided To Start This Blog

The reason I decided to start this blog is pretty simple.

I like to write. That’s it. I’d been thinking about starting a blog for months before I actually decided to do this. I’ve long thought it would be a fun project to have a place to collect my thoughts. I thought that setting up a blog would be a good learning experience too. You never know how useful learning a new skill can be. So I thought I’d try it.

Why did I think about it for so long?

Procrastination. Fear that I didn’t know what I was doing on the technical side of things. Fear that my writing wouldn’t be any good. The fact that it does take a bit of a monetary investment to set up and run a blog. The cost isn’t very high at all, but it still held me back.

And, oddly enough, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to write about. I’ve always enjoyed writing. I always have. Even writing papers in school. I feel like most people don’t like that at all, but I did.

It is a little scary, doing something like this, because it’s almost a given that not everyone is going to like what you write. I don’t really have a plan for this blog right now, it just is a place for me to write. Something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but have held off on actually doing.

I’m looking forward to working on this.