Why you should travel young (Final pt1)

"We are what we repeatedly do," said the great philosopher, Aristotle, who is presumably a reliable source when it comes to evaluating one’s life decisions. So why is it that so many of us choose to ignore the value of the statement? We continue to sit at home and think, “Well, that’s nice. But I could never do that.” We focus on all of the reasons why we shouldn’t venture out. If we are what we repeatedly do, shouldn’t we enjoy what we’re doing right now?

I wonder what my life would be like if I never left my hometown. To stay in my own bleak little bubble of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If I were only to see the same people every day, take the same roads to and from the same places, never experiencing anything different than the norm, I think I would have lost it by now. While I don’t take for granted the comfort of having a stable home and community to live in, I have tasted just enough culture to know that there is so much more to be feasted on.  

“While you’re still young, get cultured. Get to know the world and the magnificent people that fill it. The world is a stunning place, full of outstanding works of art. See it,” remarked Jeff Goins, in an article he wrote about his passion for traveling.  

Goins is a noted blogger, speaker, author, and the Communications Director of Adventures in Missions, (an international nonprofit organization.) Over the years, he has continued to write about his adventures, and eventually wrote an article on how traveling at a young age changed his life for the better.

If we are what we repeatedly do, I should hope that we all aspire to constantly be repeating actions that make us happy. People my age tend to have a stronger urge to hit the ground running, to explore, and leave responsibility behind us. But it’s what makes us happy. I hear many older individuals complain about how they never got around to traveling. My question is why? Why didn’t they see the world, if that’s what they truly wanted? If there was no opportunity in sight, why did they not simply make their own?

The truth is, traveling while you’re young is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. Sure, there are excuses not to go, there always will be. But then think of how many more there will be once you age another fifteen years or so. Teenagers become adults, students become full time employees, singles are married, and couples become parents. Travel? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

Verses for today and everyday

"Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?"  
Isaiah 2:22

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
Hebrews 13:8

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
 
 

Reviving Ophelia

               Reading non-fiction books is something that I occasionally enjoy doing while in class, but rarely attempt to do for a free reading endeavor.  If the content fascinates me, I can sit down and read a good textbook, autobiography, or a recounting of a famous event, for a little while at least. However, when I started reading Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, I was immediately hooked. The author, Mary Pipher Ph.D., narrates the many stories of troubled youth quite beautifully. She also provides many sources and uses concrete facts, found through experimentation by her colleagues, and herself.

                She starts by outlining her thesis of why she believes that at a certain point in a young girl’s life, she loses her sense of self and conforms to what society wants her to be. She proves her theory correct by telling the stories of her own patients, as she is a trained psychiatrist for adolescents. Alongside that are endless quotes and data from other sources. By the end of the book she has made her findings very clear.

                The chapters are broken down into topics, such as conforming, sex and violence, development and so on. With sub-chapters including the names of girls that were evaluated that confirm what is trying to be conveyed in each chapter. For example the story of Charlotte portrays the young females’ dependency on a male role model.  This structure for a novel was a good move, it is easy to follow and gives a lot of well-earned text breaks. 

                The only criticism I would give was that some of the information seemed repetitive, and at times, boring. Once the point was made, it seemed to drag on until the next topic was reached. I would have liked to have seen a more condensed final product. 

                This book was somewhat a challenge to read, with a lot of learned psychology terms and medical jargon, but not overwhelmingly so. I was pleased with my reading experience and I would highly recommend the book.

Welcome

"Welcome to today.
Another day.
Another chance.
Feel free to change."
-Anonymous

The direction

"The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Goodness

"Goodness consists not in the outward things we do, but in the inward thing we are."
-Edwin Hubbell Chapin