It’s Sunday night. And I just finished watching Dead Poets Society for the first time. Well, technically partially the second time. I remember we watched a clip of this movie in my high school history class once. Anyway, this is the message I got from the movie: find your passion, follow your passion, and yawp your passion.
Find your passion.
This first part sounds simple enough, right? Finding your passion, finding what you’re good at, finding what you enjoy. But it’s tougher than it seems. Some people may say if it’s truly your passion, then it’ll just come to you. Wrong. Most often times, the things that come to us are the things that make us comfortable, not what make us passionate. We tend to find something we are good at, something we somewhat enjoy. We get used to the thing we find, we get comfortable. As time goes on, we realize we aren’t happy with what we have. However, we also realize that we are happy enough to not change it. We are scared enough to not change it. We cozy up into these repetitive motions and become afraid to do what really makes us happy. Think about what makes you happy. Think about what gets you excited. Think about what you yearn for. Truly think about it. Once you find it, hold on to it tightly. Don’t let it go.
Follow your passion.
Don’t let go. Work for that passion like you’ve never worked for anything else. Now, finding your passion isn’t easy, and following your passion isn’t any better. Following your passion is when you get tested the most. The highs and lows. Things will come at you that will knock you down, but if you really believe in this thing, in yourself, you will thrive. Look at the challenging times as ways to improve yourself. Look at the low times as a small bump in the road. This is a magnificent journey. You will have dead ends, construction zones, traffic jams. But you will also have clear blue skies, beautiful sunsets, bright shining stars. Following your passion isn’t easy, but as long as you keep your eyes on what lies within your heart, it will be the greatest journey you’ve ever made.
Yawp your passion.
Finally, we come to yawping. Yawp your passion to everyone you know! Don’t be afraid to shout your love! We conquered fear before; don’t let it crawl back into our lives. If you are passionate about something, tell the world. Maybe they won’t be excited about the same things as you, but they will be excited for you. The first two points I mentioned aren’t easy, and having those people you’ve yawped to, those supporters, makes all the difference. Sometimes you may feel like nobody notices what you are doing or what you are striving for. Then you feel like, what’s the point? You lose ambition. You lose motivation. You lose hope. Don’t let that happen. Stay strong in your beliefs. Let those around you make those values even stronger. Let them help you follow your heart.
And who knows, maybe through all of this, you spark that light inside of someone else. You help someone find their passion. You support someone when they need it. You listen to someone’s yawping and you yawp right along with them.
Let us finally set sail, let us cross that ocean, let us tell our story, oh captain, my captain.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Friendship
It has been one month since I have gotten electricity (yahoo!), and I have yet to blog about it (or anything for that matter). Now that I have electricity, I can use my computer more often and start telling you more about my awesome and exciting adventures.
I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago, and she was telling me about something she read in my blog, and the topic she had read was utterly and completely boring. I can’t remember what it was that she had read, but from here on out, I promise to make my material a tad more reader friendly.
So, November 13, 2013 was the day I finally received electricity in my nice little home. So, that is 63 weeks or 439 days or 10,536 hours I lived without electricity. And I can honestly say I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Yes, it was extremely difficult to deal with at first. How will I charge my phone? How will I read at night? What do you mean I can’t watch any of the hundreds of movies I loaded onto my hard drive? At the time, I was pretty bummed about it. But as time has gone by, I have really appreciated not having those lights. It made me get out of the house, meet people, experience Ghana.
I found a place in town where I could charge my phone. I became friends with several of the teachers at the high school in town who let me use their offices whenever I need to use my laptop. And because I left my house frequently, I have met some pretty amazing people.
When I am having a rough day teaching math or grading exams, it cheers me up to just sit and chat with the friends I have made in the village and in town. Working at the school is only part of what I am doing here. Another part is experiencing this culture. And the best way to do that is to get out there, make friends, and simply talk.
I recently read a blog where the author wrote about how scary it is going to a new place not knowing anybody. And I couldn’t agree more. It’s terrifying. But it’s also so rewarding when you finally find a friend or a group of friends you can share anything with. Now, I will tell you, I don’t have hundreds of friends in this place, but I do have a handful of extremely close friends. Quality is better than quantity. At least for me. And I want to give a shout out to those friends. Now, they probably won’t ever read my blog, but I just want to be able to recognize those people because they have given so much to me without even realizing it.
Kello – You inspire me to be a better teacher. You have so much passion for your students and so much motivation, that I hope to one day teach like you.
Thompson – You have so much knowledge and such a great sense of humor. It’s amazing how you combine both of these traits, and having conversations with you is always entertaining.
Slim Macho – You’re one in a million. You are always joking around, and even when I am having a long day, when you show up, you always make me laugh and help me realize not to take things so seriously. Rahi – You’re so young and beautiful and you have so much ahead of you. You’re such a kind hearted person, and I know you will always be there for me.
Zakia and Zenabu – You two always make me laugh and we always have so much fun together. Even though you hate it when I beat you at Ludu. Even if we don’t see each other for a few weeks, I know when we meet up again, it will just be like last time.
Aisha (and little Tahani) – Aisha, you are such an inspiration. You have such a positive outlook on life, you are such a hard worker, and you are simply amazing. I don’t know how you do it. You inspire me to want to be a better person, and I love you for that.
Roger – Words cannot describe the love I have for you. You are simply amazing and have made this whole experience magnificent. You have been there from the very first day, and I couldn’t have asked for a better neighbor, a better friend, and a better Ghanaian father.
Saana – There is so much that I could say. I remember you promised my mother that you would take care of me and help me not miss home so much. And I must say, you have more than lived up to that promise. Yes, I miss home like crazy, but you somehow make it bearable. There is plenty more that I could say, but I don’t want to bore the readers and get all sappy.
So, this is not how I intended this blog post to go. I was going to just talk about getting electricity and what it was like without it, what it’s like now, all that jazz. But I think this post took a turn for the best.
In a nutshell, everything that has happened so far in this crazy and amazing experience has brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t want to change a thing.
I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago, and she was telling me about something she read in my blog, and the topic she had read was utterly and completely boring. I can’t remember what it was that she had read, but from here on out, I promise to make my material a tad more reader friendly.
So, November 13, 2013 was the day I finally received electricity in my nice little home. So, that is 63 weeks or 439 days or 10,536 hours I lived without electricity. And I can honestly say I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Yes, it was extremely difficult to deal with at first. How will I charge my phone? How will I read at night? What do you mean I can’t watch any of the hundreds of movies I loaded onto my hard drive? At the time, I was pretty bummed about it. But as time has gone by, I have really appreciated not having those lights. It made me get out of the house, meet people, experience Ghana.
I found a place in town where I could charge my phone. I became friends with several of the teachers at the high school in town who let me use their offices whenever I need to use my laptop. And because I left my house frequently, I have met some pretty amazing people.
When I am having a rough day teaching math or grading exams, it cheers me up to just sit and chat with the friends I have made in the village and in town. Working at the school is only part of what I am doing here. Another part is experiencing this culture. And the best way to do that is to get out there, make friends, and simply talk.
I recently read a blog where the author wrote about how scary it is going to a new place not knowing anybody. And I couldn’t agree more. It’s terrifying. But it’s also so rewarding when you finally find a friend or a group of friends you can share anything with. Now, I will tell you, I don’t have hundreds of friends in this place, but I do have a handful of extremely close friends. Quality is better than quantity. At least for me. And I want to give a shout out to those friends. Now, they probably won’t ever read my blog, but I just want to be able to recognize those people because they have given so much to me without even realizing it.
Kello – You inspire me to be a better teacher. You have so much passion for your students and so much motivation, that I hope to one day teach like you.
Thompson – You have so much knowledge and such a great sense of humor. It’s amazing how you combine both of these traits, and having conversations with you is always entertaining.
Slim Macho – You’re one in a million. You are always joking around, and even when I am having a long day, when you show up, you always make me laugh and help me realize not to take things so seriously. Rahi – You’re so young and beautiful and you have so much ahead of you. You’re such a kind hearted person, and I know you will always be there for me.
Zakia and Zenabu – You two always make me laugh and we always have so much fun together. Even though you hate it when I beat you at Ludu. Even if we don’t see each other for a few weeks, I know when we meet up again, it will just be like last time.
Aisha (and little Tahani) – Aisha, you are such an inspiration. You have such a positive outlook on life, you are such a hard worker, and you are simply amazing. I don’t know how you do it. You inspire me to want to be a better person, and I love you for that.
Roger – Words cannot describe the love I have for you. You are simply amazing and have made this whole experience magnificent. You have been there from the very first day, and I couldn’t have asked for a better neighbor, a better friend, and a better Ghanaian father.
Saana – There is so much that I could say. I remember you promised my mother that you would take care of me and help me not miss home so much. And I must say, you have more than lived up to that promise. Yes, I miss home like crazy, but you somehow make it bearable. There is plenty more that I could say, but I don’t want to bore the readers and get all sappy.
So, this is not how I intended this blog post to go. I was going to just talk about getting electricity and what it was like without it, what it’s like now, all that jazz. But I think this post took a turn for the best.
In a nutshell, everything that has happened so far in this crazy and amazing experience has brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t want to change a thing.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
promise yourself...
…to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind
…to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet
…to make all your friends feel that there is something in them
…to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true
…to think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best
…to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own
…to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future
…to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile
…to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others
…to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble
…to think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world not in loud words but great deeds
…to live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you
-Christian D. Larson
…to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet
…to make all your friends feel that there is something in them
…to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true
…to think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best
…to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own
…to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future
…to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile
…to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others
…to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble
…to think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world not in loud words but great deeds
…to live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you
-Christian D. Larson
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