Still Miles to Go

Author’s note: This is a journal entry I wrote the day after my 26th birthday. While much has changed since then, the core of this entry has not. Therefore, I decided to share it again, the day after my 27th birthday, because it still rings true.

Of all the people that I admire – and there are many – three repeatedly come to mind:
1. Gandhi, because he said, “be the change you wish to see in the world”;
2. Ang, our angel, who lived that change for each of her 22 years;
and
3. My mother, because she reminded me of the belief I shared with Ang and Gandhi.

Yesterday was my birthday; I turned 26. I don’t mind getting older. In fact, I rejoice. I don’t fear the numbers 30, or 40, or 50. I don’t even fear death. What I do mind, however, is that the footprint I leave upon this earth won’t have an effect. That I won’t matter. That the life I led will not be remembered and will not have changed a damn thing.

I’m the ambitious, reach-for-the-stars type. I’m an idealist and a dreamer. And I don’t handle change well. In the recent days, months, and years, my world changed. Drastically.

I thought that to make a footprint that mattered, I’d have to grow bigger feet. But I realized that changing shoes to those with a different tread makes changes the world in a different way. It makes the world more interesting. And that is how trends are started: by interesting people, people who aren’t afraid to change and stand out. You can change the world simply by changing yourself.