Unscripted moments of life

A moment in time that has left a deep impression in your life and you will never forget. I have come to a turning point…. a turning point of enlightenment. 

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Leadership Today 2012 retreat. I can honestly say that this was one of the best things that I’ve ever did in my whole college career, if not my whole life. In just three days and two nights I have been enlightened, inspired, self empowered, and many more adjectives that can not even being to explain.

By attending this retreat, it not only made me grow as a person, but it also changed my whole outlook on life. I’ve met some of the most humble, strongest, amazing people that I would not have thought twice about talking to if it wasn’t for this experience. I’m so grateful that I was blessed to have been given this great experience and opportunity. It had such a great impact on my life and I will surely never forget it.

As I reflect on the past few days(There has been A LOT of reflecting… trust me), I’ve come to realize sooo much. I’ve not only learned about myself and grow as an individual, but I’ve learned so much about the world around me and the people that inhabit it. My perspective on a lot of things has changed and I can honestly say that I’m not the same person I was coming into the retreat. 

It’s hard to share your most problematic problems with those who are close to you for the fear of being judged. I suppose this is why a lot of the issues we have with ourselves are kept to ourselves. Not only do we have the fear of being judged, but the fact that once we share these problems and issues with others we, ourselves, must own up and accept that there is indeed a problem. The beauty of this program is that you are allowed to be yourself; you’re allowed to be human. You are allowed to be vulnerable and make mistakes without the fear of being judged because everyone else is just as vulnerable and are also making mistakes just like you. And yes, it might be frightening at first to be in this kind of state and environment with complete strangers that you know nothing about, but there also comes the beauty of it. Because you are sharing this experience with complete strangers they have nothing to judge you on. You are entering with a clean slate. They don’t know your history, what you’ve done in the past, what makes you a good or bad person…. nothing. Therefore, they are solely basing you off of what you show them, the real you. And trust me… it’s a great feeling.  

I’ve learned so much about myself and grown in ways that I never would have thought possible. And I’m so thankful for the people that were there to help me through this journey. I am now an even stronger person than I was before. I’ve taken on a whole new meaning on the term “self empowerment.”

And once you have worked on yourself, you then can start helping the people around you; if you can’t help yourself,  how can you help others? The “smog” of ignorance around me has started clearing up. It’s not completely clear, but I can start to see what’s really surrounding me. People, people of the universe….the world and community we live in is not as dandy as it may seem. We live in what may seem as beautiful and colorful world, but it’s filled with hatred due to ignorance and fear of difference because it is unknown and what we are not comfortable with it. We must educate ourselves with the “unknown” so we will no longer fear it, and then we must educate others of our knowledge. Once we are comfortable with the “unknown” and no longer fear it, only then can we start accepting the differences of others and start living in a better place.

And just to make it clear, “this isn’t therapy, this is reality.”