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“I lived on an island last year”
“I lived on an island last year. “
I find myself saying that a lot when I meet new people. Funny thing is, while I was living in that island and even now, it doesn’t seem that huge. I almost say it nonchalantly. Like, oh yeah, last year I lived on an island. And traveled the world. And rode an elephant. I am not bragging. Honestly, anyone could do it. Sometimes though, when I am talking about it, I step back and realize, “I LIVED ON AN ISLAND LAST YEAR!!” And swam with a shark. And made some amazing friends. And fell in love with Asian food. And cultures. And trying new things. Sometimes I step back and wonder why in the world I ever left my island. As the weather starts to turn cold, I increasingly wonder why I left my little piece of paradise. I don’t always have an answer. Which sometimes scares me. Like maybe I shouldn’t have left. Maybe I should have stayed. Surely I could have toughed it out and taught a second year. Other times, I realize that change is woven into who I am. I am always looking for a new adventure, a new challenge, and a new path. Hence why I could fill 8 pages of a resume with jobs I haven’t held longer then a year. (Perhaps I should work on that..) And why perhaps a year on my island was enough. It was enough to give me the ability to believe in myself. To be confident in who I am. To tackle challenges bigger then myself and to realize that at the end, you cherish the experience more than anything. The journey is more important than the destination.
But as I sit at my desk in southern Indiana, staring at the traffic outside my office window, I realize that sometimes I talk about my island because its more exciting than what I am doing today. I talk it about and live vicariously through what I did last year. Because let’s be honest, living on an island is a little more exciting than answering the phone. However, I don’t live on an island. I moved home in search of a new adventure and while to some my current adventure may not sound as exciting as living on an island, it is a new adventure. And I am determined to live every day of it as such. An adventure. Because most people may tell you southern Indiana is boring. I would argue. I would say location does not determine boredom factor. People determine boredom factor.
I finally read Joel Runyon’s Impossible Manifesto. You should stop reading my post and go read that..but then come back!! See, thing is, life is an adventure and it doesn’t matter where you are. It simply matters if you are going to take today and create adventure. Tackle a fear. Accomplish a goal. Make a new friend. I started swimming. Fear of water kept me out of it for most of my life. Then I decided I wanted to do a triathlon. Which meant I had to get in the water. I took swimming lessons..as a 24-year-old. And once I did one, I didn’t want to stop. So I am swimming. Because I am not going to let a fear of water determine whether or not I ever do a tri again. I also starting saving my money. And supporting causes I care about. And took on a volunteer position at an organization I love. Oh, and did I mention I am starting a master’s degree. I may not be on my little island anymore, but I am not going to let my location determine how adventurous my life is. Nor am I going to let status quo, what other people think, or the fact that I don’t fit into the mold determine the outcome.
Thus, I am starting an Impossible List for 2012.. watch for it as the new year gets closer. Because I may not live on island, but I am not using that as an excuse to live a boring life!
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Quarter of a Century
Happy 25th Birthday to Me!
I am pretty excited.
25.
Sounds so grown up. I can now rent a car, I have officially entered my mid-twenties, and have enough experience under my belt to at least have somewhat of a voice and opinion. I am three years out of college and getting ready to go back. I have had an amazing year and am excited for what is coming next. Life is always an adventure with me!
I love birthdays. I have never ever dreaded getting one year older. I know, that may catch up with me someday, but for now I am excited about what year 25 will bring. Year 24 year was pretty amazing. I began it in Saipan, traveled to Bali, Australia, and Japan, completed a triathlon, watched my little brother get married, started a new job, and got accepted to a Master’s program. And that is only a small, small sampling of year 24.
It seemed only natural to blog on this day. As I thought long and hard about what to write I came up with a few ideas, but overall I realized that I am so blessed and thankful for my life, its hard to narrow it down. It’s been an amazing 25 years and while I could easily come up with 25 things to write about, I am not a fan of long lists and I am guessing you aren’t either. So I narrowed it down to five things I have learned in my 25 years of life. That’s an easy multiple of 25. Five is only a penny in the bucket of all the life lessons I have learned, but hopefully I can keep your attention for long enough to stick through the five. I will even count them down, although they are not really in any particular order.
5. After 25 years, my parents still know best. While they have become my best friends and have definitely let me grow up, I now listen to their advice with an open ear. I have finally realized that they may be wiser than I cared to think and they might know a little bit more than I do. (tough lesson to learn) I am pretty sure I am only where I am today because of them and I am so thankful for their support and love, even when I chose not to listen to them.
4. After five college major changes, three drastically different jobs, traveling the world, and a lot of researching, I finally found a path. I won’t go so far to say I know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I will say that I have a direction, a focus, and a passion that I plan to pursue until I can no longer. It starts with going back to school. Where it will finish, only God knows. I believe it really started when as a fourth grader I decided to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin. (If you have not read it, I can assure it is not fourth grade level reading material) My mom may be able to tell you it started earlier than that. All I know is the fight against slavery has been inside of me since that day. What that will look like in terms of the future, I have no idea. All I know is that I cannot squelch it and the number of people enslaved is higher than it has ever been in history so there is a need for people passionate once again about the abolishment of slavery.
3. Life is all about being present where you are. This was a hard lesson to learn. In fact, I did not learn it until last year. Most of my life I was always looking forward to the next step, the next thing, the next whatever. Moving across the world to a very small island left me no choice but to be where I was. There was no leaving and no sense in being miserable-hello, aside from the cockroaches and mosquitoes, it was pretty close to paradise. So I dug in, made friends, got involved, coached, traveled, and made memories I will have forever. I made a decision as I said good-bye to Saipan that I was going to live where I was. God doesn’t put us places without purpose so wherever that is, I am going to be all there for however long I am there.
2. Experiences > Stuff. Enough said.
1. Friendships, if worth maintaining, will take work. But the value of a close friend cannot be put into words. E-mail, call, Skype, laugh, and learn together. Find friends that enjoy what you enjoy, share your heart, and at the end of the day, love you for exactly who you are-quirks and all!
I have no idea what year 25 will bring, but I can assure it, life will be anything but boring! I am already starting a list of things to accomplish and I am so excited about the year! For now though, I am going to enjoy my triple shot, venti Peppermint Mocha (free from Starbucks) and enjoy the day.
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Feed My Starving Children
You know you have found a soul sister when your idea of something fun to do on a Friday night is dump food into bags for two hours. But that is exactly what my friend Leah and I did for two hours last Friday night. Amid laughter, music, and lots of chatting, I realized that this was exactly what my soul needed. A break from the media and life to focus on a project way bigger than myself and with an organization I have a very personal connection to.
Rewind a few months. Leah asked me if I wanted to go to a packing party for this
organization called Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). I immediately said yes, perhaps way more enthusiastically than was to be expected. You see, back in 2009, I spent two months in a tiny country in Africa called Swaziland. While I was there, we had the opportunity to distribute some of the food that was packed and shipped from… Feed My Starving Children. I am not really sure how we got connected, but I remember the look on the faces when we arrivedwith the food. We actually tasted it and its pretty good compared to some of the other food the kids go to eat. Not that starving kids are picky, but the food is packed full of nutrients and they have made a very conscious effort to create something that is culturally acceptable no matter where they ship it. And if you can do all that and still make it taste decent, it’s an added bonus. Ever since that summer, I have just held a special place in my heart for FMSC. Thus, I was ecstatic to be on this end as well.
Friday night we headed out to a local church to be involved in what FMSC calls “Packing Parties.” They have them all over the country and they are usually two-day events broken down into two-hour shifts in which volunteers go and pack the food into boxes to be shipped. Our goal was to pack boxes that would be sent to organizations in Haiti. The food helps alleviate some of the costs of running orphanages and care points for kids around the world. It’s a pretty elaborate process, but so much fun. After a short film and instructions on wearing hair nets, we went down to the gym and were given even more instructions on the actual process. Leah and I decided to jump on filling the bags with the food. They are made up of four ingredients -chicken, veggies, soy, and rice. We laughed so hard, jammed out to some music, and had a blast despite ending the night with sore hands and backs.
It left me incredibly thankful for the experiences I have had. Yes, anyone can be involved in packing the food, but to have an actual connection made the night more than just a fun thing to do. It was a reminder of my time spent in Africa and a reminder of how thankful I am for the blessings and opportunities I have been given. It also reminded me of how thankful I am for Leah and her friendship-it takes a special friend to find filling plastic bags with food for two hours an enjoyable experience. Her laughter, acceptance, and understanding of me is something I cherish. She is one of those rare friends that can finish a sentence, complete a thought, and read a mind. And after all that, she still likes me! Beyond that, it was so amazing to be part of this side of the organization. Overall, we(the group of people there) packed enough boxes of food to feed 121 kids for an entire year. In two hours. That’s 121 less kids that will be hungry. I think I can give up two hours for that.
What about you? It’s that time of year..any special service projects you are part of? Any organizations that you have a connection to?
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And The Winner Is…
Thanks to everyone who commented on my blog. I enjoyed reading them! I found a random number generator online, inputed all the entries in an Excel Doc, and choose a random number that corresponded to an entry. (Tried to make it official)
Anyways.. after all that the winner was:
ELIZABETH ZIKMUND!
Her comment was:
JK Rowling, I am a big Harry Potter nerd and would love to speak to JK Rowling. She is such an amazing writer, I’d love to pick her brain!
CS Lewis. I have read so many of his books and a biography written by his stepson. I would love to hear his story in his own words. He wrote amazing books and went through some really hard things.Congrats Girl!! And thanks everyone else for entering! (I still think you all should read the book eventually..)
Happy Reading!
