Open Your Eyes

Four months. I never though so little time could make such a difference in a life. Yet here I am; moved and changed in ways I never would have expected by all the joys, trials, and wonders I experienced throughout my short time in Changzhou. I apologize for the many stories I have yet to share, It's hard to tell so much when life demands your attention. However, I'll be continuing to add stories from my time in China even as I prepare for my next big journey.

Take a moment with me and reflect. As of this writing there are approx 312.9 million people in the U.S. Can you conceive how many people that really is? I really enjoy this example I found that helps illustrate just how big that is: http://www.themathlab.com/Pre-Algebra/basics/million.htm. The site describes 1 million, so now try and times what their talking about by 312! It really gives you a perspective on how many people live in this wonderful country of ours. Now I want you to take a moment and think about one more small thing...... s thatthere are around 6.9 BILLION people in the world! That mean all the people in the U.S. only account for about 4% of the world's population!

Now THAT'S perspective!

So tell me, as you sit at your computer reading this blog, do you know what's going on around you? There are countless countries and cultures, people of every shape and size with lives completely different from yours all out there making their way through this life. Do you know anything about them? About that other 96% of the world? Even a small knowledge of the world beyond your own can make all the difference.

In four months I learned more about myself and about people and about life than I could have ever expected. I never knew there was so much left that I didn't understand. Stepping into China, was like stepping into a whole new world, one so opposite from everything I'd grown to know and expect, that it couldn't help but change me. That's an experience I wish everyone could have. I learned how caring people can be, and how judgmental. I learned what it's like to have Big Brother watching over your every move. I learned what poverty looks like beyond our gilded spoon, what sickness and pain really mean. I learned that spirits full of brightness, hope, and resilience can blossom from the darkest of places.

I could go on and on about the things I saw in my short stay abroad, but if there's one thing I'd like you to take from my experience it's that the world is so much bigger than we sometimes realize. There is so much out there to see and to learn from and when you do, it makes you life that much more...... colorful :)

It's a world of a million colors out there, let your palette grow.