Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.

     All of us experience change in our lives. Change is the one constant in our lives. There are changes that we look forward to and change that we fear. However, one thing is for sure. Things will not stay the same no matter how much we would like them too. When a life change occurs, we have two choices in how to respond. We can despair that a change has come and assume that things will be worse, or we can look with excitement at the new possibilities that the change presents.

Do you ever stop and think? Just reflect on everything that's happened to you in the last few days. Months. Years.

Do you wonder where all that time went? All those special moments or just the ordinary daily activities that are now only memories. Memories that are unique and the only way you can hold onto them is by replaying them in your mind over and over again, until the details all merge together and you're left with a fuzzy recollection that doesn't seem to fit anymore.

Do you remember the exact time when you started to grow up? When the conversations you had were not about dolls or imaginary friends...but about the more important things in life?

Have you ever felt that the closest people to you are also the furthest away? Felt that everything was happening too fast?

And who tells us when we have grown up?  Do we ever stop growing up or do we continue to just grow in spirit?

And if I make my own choices, try different things, slowly growing up, will others notice that I'm changing too? Will they accept that i am changing? Will they like the new me?

But if I hold onto the memories too tightly how am I to move on? How am I to grow up and LIVE MY LIFE? How am I to make decisions and take on responsibility if I'm living in the past, and never moving forward? Never changing?

I guess time continues whether you want it to or not, leaving you behind or taking you for the journey of your life. Change is inevitable....
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Over the last half year, i have changed so much. I've grown up in so many ways. Being in a new country, really makes a person think, and makes them mature and grow up.

When i first got here, i was 16. In America, i relied a lot on my family, whether it be to drive me places, to help me, to give me money, etc. Then, i came here to Germany, and realized for the first time, i was really alone. Not 'alone' in the sense of no one else being around, of course i had my host family, friends, friends and family back home, rotary, etc.

Every morning, i wake up, get ready for school and take the bus. As i think about the first time i took the bus, (Not like a school bus in the states, this is a ppublic transportation bus, that DOES NOT take you directly to your home...) i reealize how scared i was. If you have read my previous posts, then you know the first time i took the bus, i got on the wrong bus...but now, it seems totally normal. I've even taken the train by myself, and have managed to get where i need to go each time, without getting lost.

To you, maybe those things seem little. To me, they were huge. I am in a foreign country, and at first i didnt understand the language to easily, and i didnt speak very much German at all...and everything was so new. And the fact, i managed these things alone, was a huge deal to me.

 i realized for the first time, it was my chance to grow up, and become an independent person. To learn. I am so thankful to be on this trip!
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