Surrender, yet prepare. Ask, yet expect. (Universe)

Remember: you’re in Africa. When you stop and take a breath, you can see the whole picture. – Holland

4/23/10
So, a year abroad. I’ve been to many places, I’ve met so many people, I’ve eaten foods that I never thought I would and I’ve experienced some amazing cultural things that I can’t even describe.

So, the question is: What am I going to do differently when I go home? Is anything going to change? Is a year long enough to do some good?

Well, now it’s a fantastic time for A. LIST!

Here are some of the things I want to do when I get back home:

KEEP UP THE CONFIDENCE
I may have gone up and down about weight and Love, but essentially, I kept Loving myself and kept giving myself the Benny 5. I allowed myself to get carried away and just push through the shitty times. My advice to myself is: know they won’t last forever. You don’t need to take every single thing anyone says to heart: remember to look at the underlying conditions and, most importantly, the things people say and who they are are two completely different things. If you can separate them and recognize ‘this person is making me feel this way right now but that doesn’t make them a terrible person and I have Love for them anyway’…if you can do that, your own self-confidence will grow and your Self-Love will grow.

DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANYTHING YOU EAT OR DRINK
NYC is a metropolis. Millions of people live there and millions of people would kill to live there. Do not rush your food. Try new foods – EVERY CHANCE YOU GET. Don’t think that not eating meat should keep you from experiencing other cultures’ foods.

You are so lucky to have zillions of options for what to eat and you can choose to eat healthy or not, but either way – enjoy every single minute of your eating experience. DO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED.

TRAVEL!
Home will be there and will get even better every time you return. You’ve only got this time with these people in this specific life, so stop worrying about money and JUST. GO.

And. Get to know your own country! Yes, the world abroad is fascinating and many times completely different, but you’ve only been to about 10 or possibly less of the 50 states that YOU LIVE IN!!!!!

DON’T FORGET TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOURSELF. Today.
Not tomorrow. Not the next time you get a chance. TO.DAY.

“Once you see more, you can’t stop seeing more” – Linda Raven
"Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire" - William Yeats