My brother from another mother

Traveling has always been a passion of mine. I have seen some of the most beautiful landscapes, photographed the most captivating architectures, and enjoyed the most delectable dishes and foods from around the world. The people I have met, however, are what have made my adventures more meaningful and satisfying. They have given me a chance to connect with and learn about other cultures, that I may have never experienced otherwise. They have given life to my worldly trips and have put joy into my heart.

The most interesting person I have ever met while traveling is a young man named Paul. We met while traveling through Europe and the connection was instant. We were like family. Why? Well, interestingly enough, he looked almost identical to my youngest brother, and was about the same age. He even had a personality like my brother's and his sense of humor was strangely similar as well. I shared that with him, and from that day forth, he called me "sis".

Brother Paul (as I called him, "BP" for short) and I traveled to 7 countries together, along with the rest of our groups, and we were inseparable until the day we parted ways in Paris, France. We laughed so much and shared so much about our "real" families, that we started to really feel a strong bond and we knew that we would be friends forever.

I was delighted to be able to give him guidance and influence him as a real big sister would, and I thought it was so sweet that he looked after me like any brother would. I loved him for that, loved him like a brother.

I had tears in my eyes that day in Paris. BP was heading back to his hometown in Australia, and I was continuing my travels in Spain. We hugged each other so tight and welcomed each other to our homes in our respective countries. I found a shirt that said "My Sister Went to Spain and All I Got Was This Stinkin' T-Shirt" and mailed it to his home as a souvenir. He was so surprised and grateful. I just wanted him to know he was special.

Since that trip, Brother Paul has not made it to the US and I have not been able to travel to Australia, but we keep in touch via Facebook and we have many memories and pictures to keep us connected. I hope to one day soon surprise him and pay him a visit. I can't wait to see him again and catch up. I'm sure it will feel like it was only yesterday we were drinking Prosecco on a gondola in Venice and toasting to "family" with our pints of beer in Munich. Ahh the good old days.

This post is an entry in the "Win a Trip to TBEX Contest" sponsored by WeHostels, Webjet, and TBEX.

Wish me luck!

whatever your heart desires

What do you really want? What is your heart's deepest desire?

These are questions I have recently asked myself, and when I try to think of the answer, I can only come up with another question.

How do I know what my heart's desire is?

I'm learning, little by little, that to know your heart, you have to quiet your mind. Your mind is quick to pass judgements and make assumptions. Sometimes your heart is too soft and sensitive to your mind's opinions, that it may just numb itself. I think that's what happened to me.

I let my mind give me all my guidance, or at least lead me to it. I let my mind make all the decisions. I allowed myself to believe that life was all about the hustle. Work, work, work for a better future. Future? There is no such thing!! Maybe in my next life. But in this life, it's only the present. I don't want to spend my whole life planning for a future that will never come. I need to start living life now!

I realized that I was out of balance. I didn't "have it all together", as much as I thought I did. My mind and body may have someone been aligned with each other, but my spirit longed for something so different.

I started listening to my heart. I started writing again, to see what my heart would say. My heart wants to be free. Free to feel, free to love, free to explore, free to create, free to simply be. My heart seeks truth, it seeks wisdom. It seeks to be forever present in the eternal moment of now.

I have learned that to fulfill your heart's desire, you must learn to let go, and just be the creative being you were designed to be, and not let your mind convince you otherwise.

Coincidence? I think not!

People always say "everything happens for a reason." If that's true, do you ever stop to wonder what that reason is?

Things don't happen "just because", nothing happens by chance. Everything has a purpose.

What is the purpose?

Well, in short, to create opportunities. All events and experiences create the opportunity to do something, to think something, to react to something, to express something, to feel something. These events are a part of your life experience, and they are drawn to you by you.  You use these them as tools in creating and experiencing you.

So what does this mean?

It means that even these words you are reading right now, you attracted to you. You are reading these words at this time for a reason. Maybe you are trying to understand something that is happening to you right now. Maybe you are thinking about that new person in your life and his or her purpose. Maybe you have lost something, or maybe you won something. Whatever is happening, it's happening so that you have the opportunity to grow, to become a more evolved version of yourself, and to experience the real you.

It also means that we need to be conscious of what we are attracting. We need to be aware of our thoughts and actions, and make sure they are aligned with our beliefs and desires.

We are creating our destiny. The future is being created now, by us!

What will your life experience be? What do you call forth?

A Way of Life

I never thought I would say this, but I learned a lot from a Buddhist monk. He taught me so many beautiful things yesterday. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who is taking a religious studies class and she coordinated a trip to a traditional Buddhist Temple! She was there to interview the monk for a research paper. He ended up shedding light upon us.

It was an incredible experience; eye-opening and life-changing.

I had a few "ah-ha" moments.

It was so amazing because I felt that when he spoke to me, that he was seeing me, as I am. He could see me and he knew me. Every word he spoke fell on open ears and into an inquiring mind.  Unfortunately his English was not good, and so many words I did not understand. His eyes, however, really told me everything I needed to know.

He asked me a question. Where did you come from?

We all gave different answers, but nobody really knew. Where did we come from?

I believed I came from the source, the light, GOD... but his answer was you came from your mother. He said that Buddhism is first knowing WHO YOU ARE. Before you even begin to study Buddhism, you have to know yourself.

He asked another question. What is important to you?

We pretty much agreed that it was our families, our mothers, our children.

His answer was that we were important to him, because we were there with him now. The most important people in your life are the ones around you right now! Your life is happening right now. He said that your present life is today, right now. Tomorrow is your next life. That was one of those "ah-ha" moments. Don't worry about tomorrow. Live the life that you are living now. If you are happy in this life (today) then you will be happy in your next life (tomorrow).

I loved the simplicity of it all. So simple, yet so deep. Like me :)

oh no, I'm in the box!

Are you in the box?

How do you know if you are living in the box or outside of it? What does that even mean?

Well, I found out today. The box has four walls. It is the box of survival. The walls are as follows:

• Be Good
• Be Right
• Be in Control
• Avoid Pain

If you have to always "be good" or "be right" or "be in control" or "avoid pain", then congratulations, you are just like everybody else! You are in the box.

So how do you get out of the box? Simple. You get out of your comfort zone. It's like Neale Donald Walsch said: "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

Yet most people don't do it. Most people don't live.

So what is it that keeps us "in the box". I know it's a "comfort zone", so getting out takes work. Why don't we put forth a little effort? Maybe just that, for starters. Maybe just putting forth some effort, into not having to be inside the four walls will make all the difference. Maybe being different, being a leader, instead of a follower, will get us living outside the box.

I can't allow myself to learn something in vain, not something like this. This is life-changing. Knowing that being or doing any of those four things, is keeping me in the box. Life doesn't happen there! So I would be a fool for staying in the box and not making an attempt at an escape!

So from now on, and this is what I am calling forth, I will do my best at everything, instead of having to be good at everything. I will accept that I (and this is kinda hard to write, right now, I will admit it) sometimes make mistakes, and I am at times.... ugh... wrong. I will surrender to each moment and never have to be in control of everything around me. I will embrace pain, because I know that failing doesn't feel good. Remember what Michael Jordan said "I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."

I'm doing this! Who's with me?