Wow it's only almost 11 AM for me and I already have a headache! What a morning. I took Amélie to play school at 9 AM and took the long bus ride back to the apartment so I can finish my chores without Amélie getting in the way. So, I live in a 200+ year old apartment. The locks on our door are ridiculous. Its been three weeks and I still haven't been able to figure them out. The keys get stuck, the locks have to be turned in a certain way, and the door has to be pulled in while unlocking the door. So today was the first time I was on my own to unlock the door. I jammed the keys in the keyholes and turned and turned and jiggled and pulled and cussed under my breath. It lasted for a good half an hour. Finally, I was getting so frustrated that I felt like my head was going to completely EXPLODE. I just looked up to the heavens and said, "God, help me open this door... I promise I will read a chapter in the Book of Mormon if I can just get this door open!" And then I had the inspiration to pull in the door and turn the keys. The locks clicked and the door opened. Heck yeah I ran to my room and read the Book of Mormon haha. But now I have like 45 minutes before I have to get on the bus to pick up Amélie and take her to the café for lunch. I'm totally famished. And exhausted. So dead. I guess chores will have to wait.
So on the bus ride back from dropping Amélie off at school, I had lots of time to think. I kinda made a list of what I wanted to do in life. Especially before I get married. So pretty much everything I wanted to accomplish in the next three to five-ish years. I already have one of the things checked off my list.
1. Live in Europe. (Check.)
2. Study abroad in Italy for my Fine Arts degree. (Hopefully by spring 2013 if the world hasn't ended then. Ya know, the 2012 apocalypse thing everyone is freaking out about.)
3. Do volunteer service at the deaf orphanage in Ghana, Africa.
4. Visit Vietnam with my best friend who is gonna come home from her mission soon.
5. Graduate college.
Sound good? Sounds awesome to me. There have been some people that I've told these goals to... and they tell me it's unrealistic. Unrealistic, my butt. I dreamt a long time to live in Europe for a while and people told me that was stupid. Sure, I could go visit. But to live there? Ridiculous! I have to finish school first. I have to work.
But here I am. And I know I'm meant to be here. Sure, it took me years to be blessed with the opportunity to come to Switzerland. Even when everyone said it was impossible. And I'm here for a year. I get to learn French. I get to teach a family sign language. I met a 7 year old deaf girl that I can be an example to. I've already met people here that have changed my life. I get to travel all around Europe. This is a rare once in a lifetime opportunity. And it's exactly how I've dreamt it all along. Even better, actually.
I hope it doesn't sound like I like to brag about how I am here in Europe. I just want people to KNOW that their dreams can come true. It takes perseverance. It takes patience and hard work. You have to try and try and try. You have to want it bad enough. And for the right reasons too. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to save up my money so I could travel somewhere, anywhere. I've tried going to Australia, Italy, Japan, Hawaii, Jamaica, New Zealand, Tonga... but my money always got sucked dry. I had to pay for food, school, rent, gas, and other living costs. But when my bank account withered; giving up was the last thing on my mind. I'd just start over and try saving up again. Then finally, a miracle. I got an email from Rachel Coleman saying that a family from Switzerland saw Signing Time and asked if she knew anyone that was willing to come and teach ASL to their family. Rachel sent the email to me and I immediately contacted the family. We interviewed via email for a few days, then they decided to hire me. And that's how I got here. I never lost faith that somehow, someday, my dreams would come true. So those goals I've set up for myself, I know that I will achieve every one of them. And more. And you can too. Learn perseverance. Eliminate the words, "give up"from your vocabulary. It shouldn't mean a thing to you.
The movie Cool Runnings is one of my favorite movies ever. It is an amazing example of perseverance. It's basically about four Jamaican sprinters who want to go to the Olympics. Since they couldn't make the summer Olympics because of an accident during the 100 meter sprint, they decided to take up the winter sport of bobsledding. One of the sprinter's father competed in bobsled in the Olympics and inspired the son, Derice, to try. His dream was to make it to the Olympics. But there was a problem, other than the fact that there was no snow or ice to practice on, they were poor black people who lived on a tiny island. At the time, people were still nervous about the difference of race and skin color. They found the coach, Irv Blitzer, who coached Derice's father and convinced Irv to take them to the Olympic tryouts. They somehow managed to raise the money to take them to Canada. At first, they were terrible and people made fun of them and told them to go home. But because of their perseverance and pure determination, they made it through to the finals. Slowly, they made their way to the top, becoming one of the qualifiers to win the bronze, silver, or gold medal. On the final day of the Olympics, the most important day of all, one of the blades on their rickety bobsled (the only one they could afford,) came apart and they crashed just before the finish line. All four Jamaican bobsledders got out of their seats and proudly carried the 400 pound bobsled to the finish line. They wouldn't give up until they finished 100%. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is when they were trying to raise money but people would just laugh at them and tell them that their dream was ridiculous and impossible and wouldn't give them any money. Their coach, Irv, got frustrated and asked Derice, "Do the words, 'give up,' mean anything to you??" and Derice just smiles and says, "No, not a thing."
Theres one more quote that I LOVE that comes from a book that my young women leader gave to me when I graduated from high school. The book is called, "Be." by Kobi Yamada. It's a book filled with inspiring quotes from great people.
"There are some people who live in a dream world,
and there are some who face reality;
and then there are those who turn one into the other."
-Douglas Everett
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