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GIVE: Remember This Feeling.

Written by: Carly Schade

8/21/2014
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Dear Carly,

Remember this feeling. I am writing this from the airplane on my way back to Cleveland from Nicaragua. The best trip of my life has come to an end and these are the lessons I’ve learned:

 

Slow down,
and live
the unknown.

This trip awakened a passion inside that has been dormant for far too long.

1. It’s okay to help yourself while helping others. It’s your life and you deserve to grow as an individual as well.

2. In fact, when helping others, you help yourself the most.

3. You have a need to travel. This trip awakened a passion inside that has been dormant for far too long.

4. It’s okay that this passion scares the hell out of you, but your need to see the world is strong and urgent.

5. School has always been your life. You’ve been planning every second, doing internships you don’t enjoy, and stressing over a job that doesn’t even exist yet.

6. For the first time in your life, don’t have a plan. You know that there is more out there on your path aside from college and work. Don’t live a “traditional life.”

7. You are 20 years old and need to live for yourself before you can think about living for others.

8. Then again, when you live to help others, you end up helping yourself more than you could ever know.

“It’s a small part of a very beautiful world.”

9. You are unique, but there are also a lot of very special and unique people out there as well. Never forget those kinds of people. They help you grow.

10. College is amazing, and in itself, is a wild and necessary experience for you. But remember to not get caught up in it. It’s a small part of a very beautiful world. 

11. Don’t stress out over things you can’t change.

12. You can be someone’s best friend without being the same person as them. Don’t get caught up in other people’s ways; always remember to be yourself.

Never forget the people you met on this trip, Carly. 

They’ve allowed you to grow more than you can understand. They are good, genuine people who allow you to be yourself and to grow to be a more caring individual. It’s very easy to get caught up with like-minded individuals, and some never find their way out. Appreciate and hold on to those who are different from you.

Anyway, the tears are flowing as I sit and reflect on the plane. The past two weeks were life changing. I’ve never been that clear-headed, thoughtless, and happy all at the same time. Life was simple, joyful, and full of surprises. I overcame fears that were fears simply because I told myself they were. Life is about perspective and attitude. Your own mind is often your biggest barrier. Change your mind and you can change the world.

I’ve learned to stop thinking as much. If you don’t think as much and just do, you’ll wonder why you ever worried in the first place. Remember, “Why the worry, I’d rather wonder.” At this very moment I do feel lost. The transition back into real life is a little hard, but one thing I am sure of is that I will be traveling in my future. I love learning and always connect that back to school; but learning rarely comes from the classroom alone or at all.

I no longer have a plan for after college and that scares the hell out of me. But if I can feel what I felt in Nicaragua again, that’s all the motivation I need to start a new path in life.

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