Why New Year Resolutions will always fail.

[just found this...]

I realize I haven't written on this blog in, well, months, but I made it part of my NY Resolutions to write more often. Along with write more often, also on the list was to:

Read through the whole Bible in a year.

Bless someone every day.

Get baptized. 

Draw/paint more.

Start writing a book.

Apply to 3 grad schools.

Volunteer.

Re-learn to play the Piano.

And find something to be insanely passionate about.

I like resolutions, because if they're realistic enough that I can cross them off from a To-Do list, then I think there is a good chance I might actually accomplish them.

Except, what I have just recently been learning, is the real purpose behind all these resolutions is... why.

I had other things on my list such as work out, eat healthier, get a good job, etc. but had to stop and think twice about them... 

Why? Why do I want to work out? So that after a few months I can look at myself and think how great I look and feel. 

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing, but it isn't the right thing either.

People start all kinds of New Year Resolutions and get burned out after a couple months, and completely forget about them by the time Thanksgiving roles around. It's not because they we're bad resolutions.. they're all great things to do to make yourself a better person.. But we're going about it in all the wrong ways. We decide what we need to accomplish, and then we do it.

And that is why we will fail miserably. every. single. time.

When we try to accomplish

That's not our purpose. Our purpose in life is to, through all things, glorify and search after Jesus. 

So with our resolutions, is our goal to glorify ourselves.. or Him? Because if our motives are wrong, we will ultimately be robbing God of some of His glory. 

Confusing. I know. It's taken me a couple days to wrap my mind around it all... but what I've learned is that, we must always be searching after Jesus. If we do, than He will give us the strength and guidance to do what we need to do. Then, we we've accomplished our goals, we know that we didn't/couldn't have done them on our own... and that all the glory is God's. 

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." [1 Corinthians 10:31]

 "What is more (and I can hardly find words to tell you how important I think this), it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down to the sober interest, who are then most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction. The man who has learned to fly and become a good pilot will suddenly discover music; the man who has settled down to live in the beauty spot will discover gardening.

This is, I think, one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies. It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do. Let the thrill go — let it die away — go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow — and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time. But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all round them. It is much better fun to learn to swim than to go on endlessly (and hopelessly) trying to get back the feeling you had when you first went paddling as a small boy". -C.S. Lewis 

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" -Ronald Reagan

The last part of our trip was in Germany and Hungary. We went to Dresden, Germany first. It was very pretty, but rained the whole time... so, we found the nearest museum and went in! It just so happened that this museum housed Raphael's Sistene Madonna (the painting with the two baby cherubs at the bottom). It was beautiful and reminded me of my Momma :) After Dresden, we headed to Berlin. Berlin was filled with history, from the Berlin Wall to the Holocaust Memorial to Checkpoint Charlie. We also took a break and went to the Berlin Zoo for half the day. The last place we visited was Budapest. We only got to spend the day there, but I would love to go back. They're famous for their bath houses, and I wish I could have gone in one!

This last trip thoughout Europe was unforgettable. I experienced so many changes in cultures, foods, scenery, and people by visiting all these different places. I feel like I've been bitten by a travel bug... I live out of a suitcase for weeks at a time, and after a week of being back in Cyprus, I'm already craving something new. I loved this trip so much. I got to know a lot of the people on my trip a lot better than I had before, and made incredible memories with my new best friends. Paris, Amsterdam, Salzburg and Prague were my favorites, and I'm excited to return to them someday and explore more :)

A Change.

I've realized that as soon as I quit traveling, I stopped blogging. I figured that my life went back to being typical and uneventful, and no one would care that I took classes all summer in Akron, Ohio... Then I started thinking about things that I've learned about this summer that I really think people ought to know about.

All over the world there are children being stolen, turned into soldiers, sold into prostitution, abandoned at orphanages, and so much more. It's overwhelming when I even begin to think about it. But, there are also incredibly fascinating people out there getting involved and standing up for a cause.  Soon, I'd like to be able to write about my own experiences getting involved and changing the world, but until then, I'll settle for writing about what other people are doing right now.

Last stop: Spain!

Spain was wonderful. It was one of those things where I didn't look up hardly anything, and had almost no clue what exactly to expect. After I left Cyprus on May 16th, I met up with Natalie in Barcelona. We visited the Sagrada Familia [the unfinished church that the infamous Guadi designed] The church had so much character and symbolism, that even after all the cathedrals I've been to in the past four months, this one still took my breath away. My favorite part of Barcelona was the Magic Fountain. It reminded me of Disney World, with its colors lit up and set to a playlist of music.

After Barcelona, we ventured to Sevilla, a smaller city in the Southern part of Spain. Sevilla was by far both of ours favorite. The streets wound around and if you didn't pay attention closely, it was easy to get lost. We ate tapas, drank Sangria, went to a Bull Fight, watched a Flamenco show, and rode bikes around a beautiful park. It was relaxing and warm and exactly what I would picture the "real" Spanish life to be like.

Sadly, we left Sevilla for the island Ibiza. The tickets were cheap, the hotel was cheap, and we figured "We'll be on an Island-what could go wrong?" Well, let me tell you. Our hotel was... well... not the nicest. Our bathtub growled at us anytime we wanted to shower, and we had to pay 10euro just to rent a remote for the TV [which in most cases, we wouldn't have needed, but you'll learn why as I continue] The people in Ibiza weren't exactly the Spanish residents or international travelers we were expecting. Most everyone had too many tattoos, bright colored hair, mid-drift tanktops, and honestly, I thought I had just gone to Daytona Beach for vacation. We ended up making the best of it by going to the beach everyday, went snorkeling, and ended the vacation at the spa, but that first night... we we're a little afraid to leave our room! It all makes for a better story tho, right?!

Leaving Cyprus was hard, but leaving Spain was easy. At this point, I couldn't wait to be home. I wanted so badly to see my family and eat American food [without inchworms or purple meat ;/] And I couldn't wait to sleep in my own bed and do my laundry. For weeks I had been dreading coming home, and then suddenly a switch went off inside of me and there was no place I'd rather be.

...can't go back now.

"I can't really say why everybody wishes they were somewhere else.

But in the end the only steps that matter are the ones you take all by yourself.

And you. And me. Walk on, walk on, walk on.

'Cause you can't go back now..."

Save tonight, fight the break of dawn. Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone.

These past few days-actually this whole past week-will hold some of my greatest memories so far. Our last weekend in Ayia Napa was perfect, where almost everyone in the whole program rented fourwheelers and took them out along the coast of the Mediterranean, jumped off a 40 foot cliff, got all scratched up from trying to climb back up, rented a paddle boat with a slide, layed out at Nissi beach, went out to eat together, and then shared memories on the beach at night... And since we've been back, we've been nothing but inseperable. We've had more family dinners, parties, sleepovers and just M309 hangouts than ever on this whole trip.

It's strange, time, ya know? When you want it to hurry up and go fast, it seems to go by so. dang. slow. And then, right about now, when I wish I could just pause it, freeze these moments, just for awhile... I've never felt like time has moved so fast. But the time has come, and this completely epic semester is almost over. I'm leaving Cyprus and off to Spain to meet up with Natalie for one last adventure. It's bittersweet, but it's not goodbye...