Regrets.

The other day I stumbled across a great quote “I do not regret the things I've done, but those I did not do.” I’ve seen how true this quote is just in that past week and it’s been confirmed by looking back on my whole life.  I can’t think of one adventurous thing I have done in the past that I regret doing but I can remember times I wanted to do things and never did and now wish I would have done them. 

Here are a few things I’ve done since reading this quote. Last week a friend of mine and I decided to go night climbing up Big Cottonwood Canyon at Storm Mountain. We started climbing around 10 pm and finished up at Midnight. It was a great time. On the way home I mentioned that I was still full of energy and the topic of hiking Grandeur Peak came up. We debated over it for a few minutes and I brought up that quote (I had just learned of that quote that very day). We immediately headed up Millcreek Canyon to do the hike. We arrived back home three and a half hours later at 3:30 am. It was well worth it and I don’t regret it one bit. While on the peak we could see the lights from Draper and the point of the mountain all the way up past Bountiful. The seemed to be that the whole city was asleep accept us. No noise, no movement, just the cool breeze and city lights. It was an amazing moment!

            This past weekend I was on the way home from party with a couple friends and we wanted to still do something. We had ideas of doing a hike or something and after conversing we choose to go hike down a six-foot tall tunnel in Tanner Park. Now you might no think that this is that crazy but let me explain. To get into this tunnel you have to climb down a manhole and then once is the tunnel you have to walk down a river of flowing water. When we got to the tunnel the manhole was cover with a cement barrier so we slid down some 20-foot “I” beams and then squeezed through a creak between two of the “I” beams.  The tunnel is about a quarter mile long and takes about 20 minutes to walk.  Once at the end you are in a little pond of swampy water cover in plants. If you hike up a steep 15-foot embankment you can hop a fence and you are at the Country Club golf course. We ran around the course for a few minutes and then headed back up the tunnel. We got home around 2:30 in the morning after have a great time.

            I’m so glad that I did both of these activities. I know if I wouldn’t have done them I would have regretted it for the next few days or even weeks but now I have some great memories and was able to build some great friendships on the way!!

            Next time you are debating on whether or not you want to be adventurous remember this quote: “I do not regret the things I've done, but those I did not do.” Life is full of adventure and the journey continues!!!

My Background

Well I’m going to start off by saying two things: I’m not very good at writing and I hate writing about myself. I know this is a blog and you usually share things about your life and things going on but I feel like my life is mostly boring and not much happens day to day. I’ve had a request from someoneJ to share more information on here about my life, my goals, my thoughts and feelings, and just random things!! Practice makes perfect and so I’m just going to start and hopefully over time I get better at it. If you have any suggestions for me about my writings or website please let me know. You can call, text, tell me in person, or email me at steve@thewhiteheadjourney.com. I would really appreciate it!  I’m not doing these things to boast or brag. I feel that we can learn from each other’s experience so my hope is that as I write you will be able to receive new insight and ideas for your life and that you would share your adventures with me so I can learn and grow also!!

I guess today I’ll just start with a basic introduction and then over the next few entries I’ll tell you more about my goals and feelings. My name is Steven William Whitehead. I was born on August 4^th, 1988 at LDS hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was raised in the Millcreek area on the east benches of the Wasatch Front. In my family I have my two parents and 9 siblings; 3 older sisters, 2 older brothers, and 4 younger sisters. Growing up in a large family I learned a ton of useful lessons and I attribute a lot of whom I am (personality and temperament) to having a large family and being a middle child. One blessing I’ve always had in my life is being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and having parents who loved the gospel and taught by example.

I had the privilege of attending public school and being enrolled at great schools where you were able to learn in abundance. In high school I started flight school at a local college, SLCC, where I got my private pilot’s license for small plane (being part of this program has changed my whole life). In August of 2007 I embark on an LDS mission to the Micronesia Guam Mission. While there I served on Guam and Pohnpei, which I’ll be going back to in September, for all my mission but had the opportunity to see the other 5 islands included in the mission. On the mission I learn innumerable amounts of lessons and grained many valuable traits that I picked up from those I served around.

I returned from my mission in 2009 and attended Salt Lake Community College. During that semester I learned about a neighbor of mine, Dan Bentley, who was up in Oregon being a flight instructor for helicopters. While attending flight school in high school I always had a draw towards helicopters so when I learn about Dan I immediately gave him a call. I went up to Oregon in October and then again in December and moved up there in January 2010. I obtained my private pilot’s license for helicopters over the proceeding 5 months. That summer I worked up at Mt St Helens as a loader for helicopter tours.

I moved home in September of 2010 where I once again went to SLCC and got my instrument rating for helicopters with Upper Limit. I moved to Provo in January 2012 to start the aviation program at UVU to get a degree in Aviation Management. I started my commercial license down there. I am currently living back in Salt Lake City and finishing up my commercial license with Utah Helicopters. That is the basic outline of my life. I’m sorry for the long post but since that is out of the way I can now have smaller and more insightful post from here on out. I hope this gave you a little more knowledge about myself and where I came from!!! And the journey continues!!! 

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

JFK once said: “We choose to go...not because [it is] easy, but because [it is] hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

If we want to reach our full potential we must challenge ourselves. These challenges don’t have to be huge and all inspiring. They can range from as simple as starting a healthier diet to learning a new sport to asking someone out to inventing something to starting a business. But we must challenge ourselves daily.

“Consistently challenging yourself to achieve outside of your current abilities is extremely important if you want to achieve greatness in your life,” counseled Hooman Hamzehloui.

Wise words came from William Bennett when he said, “Give yourself an even greater challenge than the one you are trying to master and you will develop the powers necessary to overcome the original difficulty.”

The point of a challenge isn’t to prove to others that you can accomplish great things but to give confidence to your inner soul. May we all challenge ourselves in one way or another starting today so that we can become greater individuals!

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt-

....And the journey continues!!!