Life changing.
Am not really good at this whole blogging about my life thing, but here goes nothing.
There are not many events in ones life that they can define as life changing. And when one makes a list of events that define their life, most would not put a choir trip down as one of them. I on the other hand would. Over the last ten days my life has taken on new meaning. I have created friendships that can help define me as a person and have had experiences that have forever shaped my faith.
Most of my life I have struggled finding friends, which is why to little surprise I also struggled over the last year to create friends within my choir. Trying to penetrate an already close nit group was overwhelming and challenging. Needless to say, up until 9 days ago I had failed in making any friends in choir. This fact made the idea of spending 9 days with these kids overwhelming and stressful. But as soon as the first flight was over, I knew I was in for something special. Being forced together on this trip gave us the opportunity to make friendships that seemed unrealistic a week ago. I met people that showed me you can have fun and still keep your morals and values close to your heart. These people showed me that one mistake can define who you are if you are not careful with how you handle yourself. They showed me that making other people happy can be a cause of happiness for yourself. They showed me that being open to new ideas can be a beautiful thing. And they showed me that one’s faith is not defined by actions, sexual orientation, or knowledge of religion. This group of seemingly misfit individuals opened my eyes to new ideas and a better self worth.
I myself have never been very religious. I have given it, what I thought was, a valiant effort, only to get sub par results. I have never found a reason to care about my faith. I also didn’t know how to balance what I enjoyed in life, with tedious nature religion. Up until this trip I had pretty much given up on the idea that I would ever be a religious person. During this trip I met three individuals that shattered that notion. All three of these very religious, faithful people, never gave off an air of arrogance over the fact that they had found the love of God when many others had not. They joked and behaved just like any other 20 year old and seemed to have a lot of fun while they were at it. But when taking a look closer I found three very dictated, passionate catholics that were willing the share their beliefs, if asked. I being myself did not care to find out their beliefs because most of the time people like them were bible thumping, condescending ass holes. But then there was a shift, like something was telling me to dig deeper and find out what was really going on. In doing so, I started to become interested in praying and asking God give me strength to become more faithful and to show me that he was listening. And God gave me just that. He gave me a sign so big it pretty much slapped me in the face. In that moment, I received that affirmation I needed to start a new and find my faith again.
Traveling to Ireland life changing. I could not be more grateful for my experiences and the friends I have met along the way. I am truly blessed.
"If you don’t know about Tumblr then you are not supposed to know about Tumblr. Its like fight club."
- John Green
(Source: chronic-nostalgia, via inspiredfollies)
