....But I wanted to get this off my chest first. Feel free to skip if you so choose. Considering it's 5am, it may get a bit rambly. Just a warning : )
I decided a long time ago that I wanted to travel and see the world. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to come to Ireland, or see London, Scotland, the Dachau concentration camp, Paris, have actual Italian food in Rome, you get the gist. Maybe I got my Grandmother's wander lust, maybe I'm just too curious for my own good. Point being, I've had the once in a lifetime opportunity to see things that other people are forced to see only through Google Images. Yes, I was forced to leave my friends and family, my comfort zone, my life, to do it, but I did it and I am a better person for it. I've learned so much about myself here and learned to accept that there are somethings about me that I just can't change no matter how hard I try.
The last few years have not been easy for me. An up and down rollercoaster that seemed like it was never going to end. But coming here, meeting the people I did, making the friends I've made, and getting to figure out that life isn't worth it if you can't let go of things, people, you name it. What's the point if you can't laugh at yourself once in a while? Make plans for the future, because even if it may seem like you don't have one right now, things change, things get better, and you move on to the next day. Smile, because even though things may suck right now, someone somewhere out there, is feeling exactly like you do.
On that note, one of the main things I've learned is that no matter what, everyone is human and deserves to be treated as such. Even when I was in countries were I didn't speak a word of the language, there was still the woman who tried to help me find my way, still the creepy men who watch as you walk away, still the sweet little kids who will stare and smile back when you grin at them, we're all the same no matter where we are, what language we speak, who we love, who we look up too, or who we associate ourselves with. There have been so many times since I've been here that I could have been in
real trouble if someone hadn't stepped in to help. I almost stepped on a live wire in Munich on my way home from visiting a friend, but a man who didn't speak a word of English grabbed my arm and stopped me. Basically what I'm trying to say is that we're all human beings, which is why I will never understand the hatred that is in the world. People tell other human beings that they can't marry whomever they may love, can't be who they really are, should be ashamed of themselves for being different in any way, which means they're telling our children that too. So how can you be so freaking shocked when bullies torture school kids to the point where they feel like they have no other choice but suicide. It makes my stomach churn thinking that people will sit idly by while kids are made fun of for being gay, overweight, wearing clothes that aren't "cool", being a nerd, being religious, or non-religious, etc. So parents, don't act so shocked. They learned it from you.
