Ever since she was a little girl she wanted to go. Then one day last year she said she was ready. It was time to go. Two days after turning 17 years old, our daughter Carlie boarded a plane bound for Italy, to be a Rotary Youth Exchange Student for a year, living in a house with a family that speaks no English in a place that is truly foreign to her in every way.
It’s hard not to admire her courage and her determination. Changing planes by herself in the airports of New York’s JFK and Rome is impressive enough, but to make such a life altering decision at such a young age and embrace it with all her heart and soul makes you pause. And it also makes you wonder… if she can do that, what could I possibly do?
I don’t often write anything here on this blog about my personal life or family. I usually reserve those types of topics for other sites where I write. But going through this whole experience with her makes me think about not only myself but others who are letting things hold them back. You can probably think about your own personal life or even your business where this message resonates with you. Because I think there are times in everyone’s life, and in your business if you own one, where you drift. You ‘float’ through life in a fog and you never step outside that comfortable space. In fact, the thought of doing so scares you to death. I know the feeling sometimes.
So I want to encourage you, and myself for that matter, to make our own journey to the other side of the world somewhere, figuratively. Carlie is exploring a new world and learning new things every day about others and herself that she never knew, and changing her life in the process. She won’t be the same person when she comes home, I know. And that has taught me that maybe there are a few things about myself that I don’t know either. And that’s pretty darn exciting.
