Reminiscing

It has been a good morning! I woke up and did a 40 minute pilates workout. And then I had some yummmy apple cinnamon pancakes! Now I'm going to go to the park for a walk with my mom. I wanted to play tennis but my sister didn't wake up early enough =/ Oh well I hope we'll go tomorrow!

Today my mom wants us to sort through all the stuff in the attic. It is gonna SUCK! But right now I think me and my mom (my mom and I) are gonna go for a walk. I REALLY don't want to do the attic stuff so I suggested the walk. Seriously..the attic will take ALL day and there's not gonna be ANYTHING interesting about it.

One of my friends is going to India and I was just reminiscing about my trips there. It's amazing how humbling going to any third world country is. Every time I've gone, I've come back with a renewed sense of gratitude and motivation to do good in the world. Seeing the people that really need the help and seeing how content they are with what they have (even though it's not much) really makes me think about America's gluttony. We have such a high standard of living that sometimes we find it hard to believe that people can not only live, but live happily, with so little. It's amazing how refreshing a trip to India can be if taken with eyes wide open (not to be confused with eyes wide shut). The last time I went to India, I went on a trip to volunteer with the Red Cross. I went to a random village and with the money I raised here, I sponsored a health clinic fully stocked with malaria meds. The other project that I helped sponsor with the money I raised was a home health care program for young ladies. Those girls were taught skills that would help them find employment to take care of the elderly in hospitals and home visits. There was a ceremony to initiate the program and my mom and I were honored there because of our efforts. What I found amazing was the look in those girls' eyes. I have never seen such innocence and gratitude and satisfaction in anyone's eyes. Those girls had been given a whole new life, with the promise of stability and success (mind you, their definition of success was inherently different than ours). It was an amazing experience and it was definitely one that changed my life.

Ahh gotta go for the walk now! Enough reminiscing for now!