Take a break and become….

My friend Simina wrote some very nice things. I will invite her soon on this blog, but until then here is what she wrote:

In every second of our lives we are confronted with choices. Even our own birth is a matter of choice. The universal energy, nature or people are deciding that we should appear into this world. We are born in a world of endless choices, a place that gives us the chance to be unique by exercising our personal gift of being alive and capable of living for a purpose. In the exact minute that we decide to choose life instead of anything else, we accept the biggest responsibility of them all...to become spiritual and creative human beings.

We have to accept that the world is a huge stage which allows us to play a distinct and unique role. We also consider that there is a permanent audience consisting of everything that surround us and that is influenced by our decision to play one role or another. This is how life goes on…and on.

Nowadays we are so involved in our social life and almost all of us forget, from time to time, that we have the right to take a step outside of it all and think about the essence of being alive. Just close the gates of routine for a second and face the other side of life which is hidden behind what society dictates you to do, from the minute you are born.

We are taught to cry, drink, sleep, eat, dream, desire. We are given a safe passport for life as long as we are obedient. We are shown that a perfect relationship should be like in the American movies, the occident gives us a model of political power and development, Asia is the stereotype for overpopulation, Africa means hunger and disease. The individual is somewhere in between and inside all these images of the world.

The amount of information coming in our direction is overwhelming and the matter of choice might appear as a cynical demand. Nevertheless we must be capable of pushing it all back and filling our heart with a breath of innocence and pure air.

Forget that you are just a little insignificant part of the enormous puzzle that represents life itself, and consider yourself as being an essential part of this game. Take a break from your ordinary life and start becoming.

While being a student, I chose to travel to different parts of the world, and interacted with many people from different nationalities. Those trips gave me the chance to learn valuable lessons of life and to better understand that we all have a path and a meaning in this life. Being a Romanian was never easy outside the borders of my own country. In America I was asked what and where exactly is Romania, I was asked if we have cars, paved roads, electricity and television cable. In the fortunate cases I was asked about Dracula, vampires and Transilvania. While hitchhiking in western Europe I met a lot of people who seemed to be scared when finding out where I am from, mostly because the only image that they had about Romania is that of a poor country where children are abandoned or sold to foreigners, gypsies are send to the west to beg and steal and the streets are a dangerous place. At the time they were telling me all these stories I was in their car traveling from place to place. I was a student from Romania and a person who had a sincere smile on her face. I tried to give them a different perspective of Romania. I told them about the people that are beautiful and sincere, I told them about the landscape, the people in the cities and the peasants in the countryside, the political status and the future aspirations of our leaders and I told them about the abandoned children, the gypsies, the migrants, and the streets. I explained that all these things and many more are part of what Romania really is, and that the changes of this situation is an important plan for the present and the future generations. I told them things that I believed in and I was not for a second ashamed that I am from this country. I was never in my life ashamed of it.

While being at a destination I thought of the person who took me there, and I hoped that I could open his heart…at least a little bit. And then I took a break for a few days, a breath of air from Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain….and hitchhiked to a new destination, a new challenge and new people. Nevertheless I learned a lot. It was all a precious lesson of life, a travel into the unknown, a fill with positive energy.

Coming back to my country I realized that how fortunate we people are. I am happy that I am who I am and that I am here instead of anywhere else. Romania is in itself a great challenge. A challenge to wish for more and an endless river of possibilities for someone who wants to improve the life of others. There are a lot of things to do here and my country needs me and you for that. The fact that I was born here was not in vain, was not a lottery but a choice and a necessity.

To realize all these things took me some time, a bit of courage and faith, and a few breaks from my daily life. These breaks gave me a new reason to live and a new purpose in life.

This world has a lot of colors that have to be combined into a painting that will put a smile on the faces of people from all the cultures. And when you feel like smiling take a break, go outside and fill the streets with joy.