"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."
This may not be the case for everyone, but, for me, the monotony of "The Daily Routine" is something that has plagued me for most of my adult life. In college, life is a little more relaxed, waking up for the two classes you have for the day, studying in between, and having a lot of free time to socialize and try new and interesting things. Granted, the work in college is challenging, but the freedom in which you set up the day is truly one of the best advantages someone can get out of college, besides an education of course.
.....And then comes the "The Real World". The first real job where someone has the set scheduled time you come in, work, have lunch, work and leave. Day in and day out, for six years, this was my life. Just like everyone else, I would get up for work, drive in, work all day, come home and go to bed, just to wake up and do it all over again the next day. Granted, I found activities to occupy my free time, doing things that made me happy or spent time with loved ones. Despite this, I found myself feeling trapped, trapped in this vicious cycle of "nothing is going to change for me" mentality. The first step in breaking the vicious cycle is to identify what it is that makes you feel unhappy and evaluate what components are the key drivers.
The second step to breaking the cycle is to look for an inspiration. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration, whether that comes from something that you read about, or comes from one of the most unlikely sources. My inspiration came from someone that I met from a complete random occurrence. As improbable as was that we met, the impact at this person has had on my life borders on awe-striking. If I would have thought at that moment to keep walking and not stopped to talk with this person, where I would be now. She inspired me to look at the world from a different perspective, helped me step out of my comfort zone, and opened my eyes to love again. This person opened my eyes to so many things and I am eternally indebted to her for this.
The final step in the process is to step out of your comfort zone and do something that completely disrupts the cycle. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would ever travel to a foreign country, let alone one where I spoke very little of the language, and feel comfortable doing so. I remember my attempt at navigating the foreign international airport to change airlines to my domestic flight. Although, it was a seemingly small task for most people, I felt a great deal of accomplishment and satisfaction in having the confidence of being able to do it and accomplishing it. Every time I look back at these pictures I realize the beauty, fun, and excitement I would have missed out on if I hadn't.
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