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"Traveling will change you like little else can. It will put you in places that will force you to care for issues that are bigger than you."
- http://goinswriter.com/travel-young/
Read this article. It touches upon a few reasons why if you have the opportunity to travel when you're young, you should do it. Despite the ups and downs, it teaches you more than a steady, solid life back home does.
The key points of this article are Adventure, Compassion, Culture. I would argue that in addition to these things, Perspective, Appreciation, Humility, Self-Renewal are gained from travelling young.
Perspective is an obvious one. You go to a new place, see how people run their lives in a way that is totally alien to you, and you gain perspective that people are different and the same size doesn't fit all.
When I'm at work, I watch the clock slowly tick as I stare at an Excel Spreadsheet of thousands of numbers. Time ticking like a drunk wood pecker slowly picking away at the base of a maple tree. Then,when work ends at 5, I leave to catch my rickshaw. The driver manages to nearly run over a nani, scrape the side of two buses, and excelerate to the max on a piece of metal that won't exceed 25 mph. And after the 30 minute yathra, we owe the driver a mere 89 rupees, or $1.80. Yeah. So the next day when I go to work and think of getting frustrated with the "lack of academic rigor," I am going to stop, take a breath, and welcome the chance to be lazy with open arms of gratitude ;) (Appreciation) I am so blessed to have the chance to be educated, to be in an air conditioned environment, and have control over my life as a whole when right outside of the factory, there are slum residents selling fruit, driving rickshaws, and still have a smile on their face.
Another perspective: Americans are too self-conscious. It's true. There is an over-emphasis to be perfect - an obsession. And it's common throughout different types of people. Whether it is focused on looks, academics, personality, health, success, money, you name it. Us Americans tend to be goal-oriented, which is definitely a factor in our success, but also leads to unwanted consequences like self-induced mental issues. This past week, all the interns found a lull in work, and decided to chill in the conference room instead of wasting time on facebook. Someone, I can't remember who, decided it would be fun to have a singing sesh. The first was South Indian Classical, the second a bit more mainstream, and by the end, all 3 singers were harmonizing and jamming out. (Humility) Firstly, I was taken aback to hear that they had such good voices. Quite frankly, I didn't expect it. Indian parents don't put much emphasis on arts since it isn't "practical." That aside, I was taken aback at how comfortable these 3 colleagues of mine were. They began singing solo almost immediately on command, no inhibitions, full eye contact with the audience, and without a drip of sweat. This was an achievement in its own! Something like this would never happen in America. Why? Because the first person to start singing would be made fun of by the rest of the group for being an attention w****. And another person would turn tomato red just at the thought of showing any vulnerability. We are so critical to each other and to ourselves. (Self-Renewal) Watching them made me realize that this is something I don't want to have in myself - self consciousness. Stop over analyzing how people are perceiving you and just be. If you keep thinking how people may think you are weird, boring, untalented, etc. you can't get anything done, let alone...I don't know...maybe enjoy life on a daily basis? Your life experience will improve drastically if you just let go of the need to control how others view you. Once you do this, you're free. There. You grew a pair of wings. Now go fly.
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