“It’s Your Time”: From Truck Driver to Adventurer
For the “Living with Gusto” series, we may not find a better visual example than Rob Adelphia’s bungee jumping video. Blogging at Today Has Power and The Four the Road Family, Rob has gone through more than his share of challenges but is the epitome of how we can overcome anything when we put our mind to it. If you need a jumpstart in your life, pick up his eBook, “How to Get Anything You Want Out of Life…And More!”
Based on his childhood, nobody would have ever thought that Rob Adelphia the truck driver could be a writer and that he would one day be planning for a family bicycle trip across the entire United States. But his story isn’t the standard inspirational plot. There wasn’t one turning point when everything started to go right. Instead, his journey had a long and twisting path and his message is that change often doesn’t happen instantly. It’s the essence behind this video of his second time bungee jumping. The first time didn’t make it any easier, but what’s important is that he continued and continues to seek growth:
He Didn’t Throw in the Towel
“Failure was the only thing I was consistent at,” Rob says as he begins the story of his life. “I began to drink in my early teenage years, I graduated late, and I worked at over 10 different places.” Some may attribute this to his less-than-ideal upbringing. “There wasn’t extra anything and not enough of most things,” he explains. How could there be enough in a household of a single 19-year-old mother with two children whose partner had ended his own life just before Rob came into this world? “Our family was vulnerable to the ups and downs of living in poorer communities,” Rob remembers. “I witnessed and experienced a lot of things that a child shouldn’t.”
He sums up his childhood with an anecdote of a seventh-grade basketball game. “The referee halted play, came over to my coach, and told him I had to leave the floor because my shoes were falling apart,” Rob recounts. “He considered it a hazard. In front of the crowd, the opposing team, and my team, I found a place on the bench and sat down wishing I would awake.” Nevertheless, despite the rollercoaster of attending at least five grammar schools and working such a range of jobs from pizza places to washing trucks to the army reserves, Rob still felt that he had a bright future ahead of him. “There was something inside that pointed toward hope,” he remembers. “The problem was that I was stuck on making poor choices again and again — a terrible pattern to be in. Excuses and blaming were close at hand for me.”
More Than One Turning Point
If you ask Rob when things changed, he can’t pinpoint a moment in time. “Baby steps have been a close friend and enemy,” he explains. “I made poor choices over and over again. To be honest, I’m a slow learner.” But in the game of life, the prize is just as rich whether you get there quickly or slowly. “Choice by choice I started choosing a different path,” Rob remembers. “It took much effort but became easier as life progressed.” Some of the positive habits he began implementing include weightlifting, reading, eating healthier, and choosing the right peers. “The importance of positive habits should not be underscored. I call it momentum stacking,” he says. “Deciding to eat an apple instead of a bag of chips, or shutting the TV off and reading material that will help you grow is momentum stacking. Doing those things that fulfill, not kill.”
These days, Rob also makes it a habit to reach outside of his comfort zone in the face of all that holds him back from his dreams. “We all have things that are keeping us where we are,” he says humbly.
“It could be our feet on the ledge before bungee jumping or not sitting down to write the first page because it might not be good enough. I just decided that I might always have a fear of heights, but I’ll just have to be afraid on the way down. I may always think my writing is subpar, but it will be while handing the finished product to an editor. I don’t believe in self-imposed boundaries that imprison. I believe in forcing the issue and let’s just see where it ends up.”
Why He Shares His Heart
Through personal experiences and the slow process of trial and error, Rob began to discover some of the keys to success in life, such as: “accountability and acceptance of my actions, self-discipline, and persistence.” From this development, there was a smooth transition to impacting others’ lives. “Once I began to have a bit of success, it just seemed a natural thing for me to offer my smile to hearts. It is that simple,” he says matter-of-factly. “I guarantee that there is someone that needs your smile in their heart right now. You don’t have to be a ‘guru’ but just someone that can say, ‘You matter’ because they do. We all do.”
In reaching out, Rob soon realized that many shared a similar story to his own. “People ask questions, such as, ‘Am I good enough? Can a person like me?’” he observed. “I wanted a place to say, ‘You are’ and to say, ‘It is exactly a person like you that can be liked.’ I wanted to let that person awash in turmoil know, ‘It’s your time.’” Rob’s blog, Today Has Power, stemmed from this desire and he now touches the hearts of an international audience with his wife by his side handling the magic behind the scenes, his son on his lap, and his whiz of a daughter maintaining her own website alongside him.
Apart from embarking on a mega cross-country bicycle trip with his family (follow their adventures at The Four the Road Family blog), Rob is also currently working on various writing projects, including a children’s adventure book that will be offered on Amazon. “It wasn’t so long ago that I was driving a truck,” he reminisces. “It took me a while to realize it was time. My time. I try to encapsulate that idea on my blog. I want everyone to know that this is their time. To decide on it and take action.”
What do you need to take action on today?
Tags: interview, living with gusto, motivation, passion, rob adelphia, truck driver, writer
Betsy Cross
I felt so good, and inspired reading this, Sam! I love this :
“I was just going to have to be afraid on the way down,” when talking about his fear of heights.
I’ve been listening to and non-acting on my own fears. I know better! Just goes to show you we will always have something we face that is uncomfortable. It’s as simple as making one choice at a time isn’t it- like an apple vs. chips!
Samantha Bangayan
That’s one of my favorite lines too, Betsy! =) We forget that *overcoming* fear doesn’t always mean that the fear goes away completely. =)
Your apple vs. chips example makes tackling fears so simple! =) Love it!
Adriene
This is a wonderful post. Rob is an inspiration. He’s certainly not the only one to have made many mistakes before learning the lesson. Some people never take a good look at themselves but Rob did, and to good effect.
Samantha Bangayan
Oh so true, Adriene! We often forget that life doesn’t always come out perfectly and that means that we may make mistake after mistake. Phew! That makes life less stressful for sure.
Riki Cleveland
Thank you for sharing Rob’s story! I was in a bit od a mid-week slump and found inspiration in his faith in life.
Samantha Bangayan
I so need random bits of inspiration every now and then too! =)
Rachel Howells
I agree with Adriene that Rob is an inspiration. I like how he puts this: “I don’t believe in self-imposed boundaries that imprison. ” So much of how we perceive the world around us is through the bars of these self-imposed prisons. The trick is realizing hose bars are made up of nothing more than thin air, which is harder said than done because they seem so real. Wonderful post! 🙂
Samantha Bangayan
Self-imposed prisons, indeed! It’s funny how often we blame external factors when we can often be our own worst enemy! Love that image of bars being “made up of nothing more than thin air.” =)
MuMuGB
What an inspiring and uplifting story! We hear too often that growing up in difficult circumstances is an excuse not to try very hard,etc…Rob os a living example that this is not the case!
Samantha Bangayan
That’s right! No excuses. =)
Penelope J.
Sam, I’m delighted to read your post about Rob Adelphia. I’ve been a fan of since I first read his “Today Has Power” blog. He hasn’t been posting much recently so I was delighted to read his latest, “Mastering your mind by ignoring it.”
Talk about reaching out of his comfort zone! While I watched this bungee jump video, I could see what a torturous decision it was for him, but “throwing in the towel” was never an option. He knows that in this life, there comes a time when we have to stand on a ledge of sorts, and overcome our fear and take the plunge.
Samantha Bangayan
I’ve been missing his inspirational blog posts too! Although his road trip is one of the best excuses for being missing from the blogosphere. =) It’s all about living life out to the fullest after all.
That video was powerful, wasn’t it? Bungee jumping has always been the one thing I thought I’d never do, but Rob’s got me rethinking that! It would be the perfect way to face my fears! =)