I'm still planning my Big One so I can't answer this directly. But it's not the only life changing experience you will ever have, so ask yourself how you have handled others. Starting a family is the biggest one most of us will have and we seem to manage that. Even though others round us might be going on doing the same things they've always done, we know it's something special.
On a bike I felt I'd somehow changed the first time I raced on the Isle of Man. I had, and it was a special feeling each time I did it, living so intensely, even though I'd get back home afterwards and most people never knew I'd been away. But it's not about them, it's about you. You come back a richer person (in experience if not in money!), a more interesting person and a wiser person. What you do with that wisdom is up to you. It doesn't mean you have to change your life, start a business, start a religion, etc, but as a more rounded, more experienced human being you can take a smarter, more informed view of the world, take a quiet pride that you've done something that most others can only dream of, and be guided in your future by what you have learned and experienced.
|