We only have one life.
You have one life, I have one life–regardless of last name, socioeconomic status, nationality, profession, bank roll, political affiliation, vehicle type, stress experienced daily, number of social media followers or scholarly achievements hanging on the office wall, etc. Each person has one life, one opportunity, one set of numbered days with an unknown ending.
What are you doing with yours? Do you feel like your days have been put to good use over the last year/month/week/24 hrs? And what am I doing with mine? I will be sharing over the next few weeks (hopefully).
Where have I been? I decided to take my eyes off of the American dream to see how others live, work, struggle, think, believe, and operate. I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a break from the work-saturated grind to explore, to meet new people, to see different cultures, try new foods…and share. I wanted to share my views, opinions, thoughts, and beliefs, with people I had never met before, in places I had never been before.
You could say I went to the other side of the world to make friends and talk.
I traveled through Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and England. I went back to Belgium and flew to Liberia for 2 weeks with 5 others from NC. I went home for a friend’s wedding, and spent a few days organizing and seeing family. I am currently sitting in the only air conditioned room at a children’s camp on the south side of the most beautiful island in the world: Puerto Rico. I have been working around camp and in the local neighborhood with some close friends for the past few days. We climbed a mountain and jumped from some cliffs into a river in the rain forest on Sunday.
Recent life experiences have been surprising, sobering, emotionally exhausting, heart breaking, laughable at times, and altogether a gift. I feel like I have lived 3 years in the past few months. I am going to try and put some of those experiences on paper (or electronic paper) as I process everything, and I hope the words shared will be an encouragement to you, wherever you are.
Though I am currently unable to tell you where I will be or what I will be doing when September arrives, I am filled with gratitude when I think of all the moments and encounters from the last 3 months.
#LETMEINTRODUCEYOU
#JESUSisLORD #lovedoes
