Any avid globetrotter will tell you that travel is the most valuable thing you can purchase. Whether it’s personal growth, learning about another culture or just a desire to explore- travel is an investment in you. However, to truly make the most out of any excursion, you want to travel smart. That’s why HelpStay has partnered with World Nomads to make sure our Helpers and travelers alike are protected on their next adventure.

Why Should I Buy Travel Insurance?
Whether it’s you, your friends or your relatives, usually someone close to you is making you nervous about your upcoming trip out of the country preaching to “be careful” when you travel and “don’t talk to strangers!”. Though we encourage a trip of befriending countless “strangers” (sorry moms), we want to make sure you are safe and taking the proper precautions to securing your health and personal belongings.

Getting Sick
In a new country you are traditionally eating cuisines unlike your own, drinking from a different water supply, interacting with different plant/wildlife and exploring in a new climate. All of these things can contribute to you becoming ill on your trip. This doesn’t even take into account adventurous activities you may be planning (skydiving, snorkeling, surfing, etc.) that can have a serious effect on your ability to fly due to change in air pressure and altitude (in case you were wondering, they’ve got special insurance for you adventurers too). Even with the proper gear, there is no way of guaranteeing it won’t happen to you. However, with travel insurance you can be covered as you are at home, anywhere in the world. This will not only ensure that sickness won’t keep you down, but that foreign medical bills also won’t burn a hole in your wallet.

Securing Lost/Stolen Items
As travelers, we have learned to be resourceful and be our most “low maintenance selves” with just a backpack on our backs. However, when we stop and look what is in that giant thing we often realize we have an expensive camera (or GoPro), a laptop, our phones, expensive hiking (or dinner) shoes, and other valuable sentiments to us. They are things that not only have emotional value but monetary value as well. Traveling makes it easy to lose or get our things stolen when we leave them in unfamiliar places. Having traveler’s insurance will help you keep your things protected so you can enjoy your trip without fear of being empty handed upon your return home.

Should I Buy a Different Kind of Insurance if I’ll be Volunteering While I Travel?
Nope! When you volunteer with HelpStay, traveler’s insurance will help keep you covered for everything. When it comes to coverage, there is no difference and our insurance will make sure you’re cared for even if you decide to take an extra trip anytime before, during or after your program. Separate volunteering agencies and organizations often have their own, costly insurance programs. However, with HelpStay’s partnership with World Nomads we put getting covered on your terms, making it convenient and cost efficient.

One important factor to note is that although it is not mandatory, our hosts prefer travelers who have traveler’s insurance. Just like us (and your parents) they want to make sure you are protected at all times. In the case of an unlikely event, having traveler’s insurance will save both you and your hosts the cost and headache that comes with traveling without coverage.

We are a community for travelers, by travelers. We started HelpStay to make traveling with a purpose easier and more accessible to everyone. Whether it is us at HelpStay or the World Nomads team, we want to help you explore the world and share unforgettable experiences- we just want to make sure you’re protected when you do so. For more information visit https://helpstay.com/pages/travel-insurance for a free quote.

This story begins at the end of my senior year of college. Like any other soon-to-be graduate, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I was completing a degree to which I felt myself falling out of passion with but knew it was too late (and costly) to turn back from. I was entering adulthood, now with a clearer image that my career in advertising wouldn’t lead to a life of Mad Men-esc glamour or paradigm-shifting media that would help teach people valuable lessons, but a life of emails, spreadsheets and #hashtags.

I wondered. Is this it? Will my life moving forward be nothing but another version of the same, formulaic story with nothing to look forward to but promotions, marriage and kids? I decidedly said, fuck no. I had to see what else was out there and get back in touch with the things that make life truly worth living, according to me.

Earlier in college, during my sophomore year I had studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and had felt the most alive than ever in my life prior to that point. As my first time out of the country, that experience was my initial exposure to the world outside of my northeast U.S. bubble. The languages, the people and their way of looking at life was far different than mine but one that I was fortunate enough to learn a lot from.

During this time abroad, I had volunteered with children at an afterschool program and experienced true joy in helping them with homework, hugging them, feeding them, and often times dancing with them even though there was a very sizable language barrier. The new friends, Spanish nightlife, and beautiful landscapes, although amazing, couldn’t hold a candle to this part of my experience.

Immediately upon my return from Spain I sought out other programs like this but couldn’t come across any under $2,000. I was stunned. Thousands of dollars to donate my own time? I just want to help. Why is this so difficult/costly?

Upon graduating, I had to give it another try. Traveling without it hadn’t felt the same since, especially after going on a cruise. “Hello small, impoverished island! Me and my friends are just going to park our floating shopping mall here and drink margaritas on your beaches! Have fun cleaning it all up after we leave.” Yeah — not for me. I wanted something more. To truly become a part of somewhere by contributing to it and earning my place. That’s when I found HelpStay.

HelpStay is a skills-based volunteer platform that allows you to volunteer somewhere and in exchange, receive food and warm bed. Browsing the “stays”, they varied from working at orphanages in Uganda to surf hostels in Morocco. I was so impressed. Not only could I give back to a wide variety of communities, but also have fun and learn a new skill in the process. Needless to say, I was so excited I reached out to about 15 hosts, eager to start my first HelpStay.

Two months later I found myself living in the trailer depicted above working at Biotopi Nature Park on the Greek island of Crete. From the moment I made it to the park, I was enthralled. I had never seen the stars so clear before. I felt that for the first time, I was breathing fresh air. The park was right up the hill from the small city of Rethmynon but tucked away just far enough to really feel like I was a part of something special — like I was a part of nature.

Volunteering alongside me was a Welsh girl who was studying botanicals, and a French father and son who were traveling together to reconnect. We spent our mornings feeding the animals (Bunnies, Chickens, Turtles, Iguanas and giant Snakes) and tending the plants, all gathering around the outdoor kitchen table afterwards for fresh fruit and creamy greek yogurt (yum). It was our mini-paradise. All of us finding refuge in this tiny corner of the world eager to learn more about ourselves and the world.

The amount of interaction was far above what I expected, and being the extrovert I am, found myself thriving in. Biotopi had a nature park, an adventure park and a cafe. The nature park was frequented by tourists from all over the world of whom we’d guide around the park, the adventure park was a summer camp for kids that was run by local Cretan camp counselors and the cafe was a local hotspot for Cretans to have a drink and look down at their beautiful town. The diversity of characters I was able to see come by, paired with the consistency of the everyday staff at the park made me feel like I was a local Cretan (minus the inability to speak Greek). Of all the interactions I had, I have to say that I learned the most from two in particular.

My two hosts, Susanne and Mihalis, were what most Americans would refer to as “authentic hippies” (minus the drugs), meaning they both had an undying passion and respect for nature and lived their lives exactly how they wanted to, defying convention. Both of their hospitality and insights taught me lessons I will carry with me the rest of my life. They were the type of people that spending time with made you feel like you had been living life under cinderblocks all along. They were both free in the love they had for one another and the love they had for life. Susanne was a shaman masseuse and Mihali an adventure seeker (I didn’t realize the extent of this until the day he asked me to drive him up the mountain only to run off with his hang glider). He often described the feeling of soaring with the birds and the mutual respect he had found with them.

This experience was one of the best of my life for a multitude of reasons. Sure, I got to see a corner of the world I had never even thought of before but my interactions with the people I met and worked alongside were like nothing I had ever experienced. It’s almost as if coming together under these circumstances (and not a networking event, brunch or a cocktail party) strips away all of the bullshit, and allows you to be your most authentic self. Our paths had collided in this one, small place and none of us were ready to take it for granted. We treated the park as if it were our baby and cooked/enjoyed meals together like we were a family.

I am a firm believer that all of our internal conflicts, self doubts and insecurities about who we are come from moments when our actions and our beliefs aren’t aligned. Following the path through HelpStay to volunteer in Crete was one of the first of many journeys I’ll be taking to give back and evince my truest, most fulfilled self. Mind you, I was scared at first. I didn’t know if I could “rough it” in the trailer and be pulled away from a comfortable life and network I had come accustomed to. Now having done so, I am more afraid of what may have happened had I not. My HelpStay experience was the wake up call I needed to say, “Marisa, get out there. The world is waiting for you.”

A Journey to Finding Happiness: Why You Should HelpStay was originally published in HelpStay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Some things in life surprise you in the best ways. It is a commonly held belief that many of the strongest relationships come as a result of long, grueling friendships. Because of this, we hold closest the people that have been in our lives the longest as if they have some kind of tenure on our most intimate selves. Though I am one of the lucky ones to have great friends from childhood, I dispute this “first is always the best” mentality.

Some of my closest friendships came as a result of study and volunteer abroad programs I have done. People that I had only known for a few months, all of a sudden, knew more about me than I did myself and were able to provide me guidance and wisdom I didn’t know I needed. These relationships aren’t a result of serendipitous pairing of soulmates (although at times it felt that way). I am a firm believer that everyone who does a program like this will find a bond with others they didn’t know they were capable of.

Living in the Unfamiliar
To travel means to put yourself outside of your comfort zone. Language barriers and varying cuisines are just the tip of the iceberg. In a foreign land there are different ways of life and values that you can’t even begin to understand until experiencing it firsthand. Amidst trying to navigate this new place, we unconsciously seek out others like us.

As human beings, we need to be validated and we find that comfort in travel by meeting others who share the same struggles, jokes and cultural idiosyncrasies that we do. It’s the secret we share as travelers. As much as we love the unknown, we all value our abroad friends (those also facing the unfamiliar) as our night-time teddy bears. It is a relationship that is authentic, longing and quietly, codependent.

The Traveler Mentality
Our mind while traveling varies drastically from our day-to-day mind. Your life on travel is an adventure. Time lasts longer and things you might have otherwise found mundane (a small cafe, a street band, etc.) seem thrilling. This starry-eyed lens on life does a great job at keeping us focused on big picture thinking, whereas your routine mind gets caught up on details. There is something to be said about the friends that share this mentality with you.

In my opinion, it’s the most pure relationship you can find. Someone who is there to indulge in this child-like playfulness and amusement for seemingly average things is capable of bringing you back to this state whenever you are together. Even if you are back in your respective countries, the magic you experienced together always lingers. More than the stories, the feeling of deep gratitude experienced is what remains and what keeps you both together.

Growing Together
For many of us, traveling abroad is a means of escaping from ourselves. We dare to adventure away from our routines and support systems (what makes us, us) because we are intrigued by the unfamiliar and hope to learn from it. You’ll be pleased to know that most travelers are this way. Anyone who is willing to put who they are to the test and immerse themselves in the global abyss has a certain level of tenacity (or lust for it at least) that encourages personal growth.

Interpersonal connections are like waves in the ocean. Can be strong or subtle, unpredictable or calm and rough or absolutely beautiful. The friends you make abroad see you through the highest peaks and follow you from the depths to the shore. Friendships made in travel are awe inspiring because you are both exposed to the most enthusiastic, optimistic and unsure parts of each other. To those of you reading this post who are apprehensive about getting out there in the world, afraid that you might miss home too much or feel alone out there- I am here to tell you to forget all of that. The second you open yourself up to this beautiful world we live in, it will show itself to you. And as per missing home? The friends you make along the way will be your home.

Here’s Why the People You Meet Abroad Will Be Your Friends for Life was originally published in HelpStay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Your 20s. A time to embrace change, take chances, fall in love, travel often and spend countless long nights out with a carefree mind and spirit. Unfortunately, this Hollywood image of life for a 20-something millennial is so far from the truth.

Your 20s look more like Sunday Scaries, agonizing Bumble dates, insecurity in the workplace, being constantly broke, and resentment for the fact that no one prepared you for adulthood. Literally, no one. On top of all of this is the heightened pressure that comes with the innumerable success stories of young, thriving entrepreneurs.

Somehow amidst trying to learn how to cook (and not just microwave), balancing work and social life, paying bills (hello student loans!), staying in shape and being active in our communities, we’re supposed to be starting some ground-breaking company that will one day be referred to as the Uber of X. Sounds easy!

My goal in this article is to diffuse this anxiety-inducing obsession millennials have built around who they are, especially in comparison to others.

While there is no easy solution, I hope starting this conversation can build true contentment and self-satisfaction within our generation.

Self-help books constantly reference the lifelong battle of discovering oneself and the importance of knowing the true you. This fixation on the journey to self held by our society has us constantly placing ourselves into different buckets. You are either a liberal or a conservative, a creative or a tech brain, or on one side of any other polarizing comparison.

Paradoxically, in our efforts to exert our individuality, we find ourselves conforming to any number of prescribed archetypes. This begs the question, how do we go about finding ourselves in such a commoditized and ego-cluttered world?

For Every Shortcoming, Count 5 Achievements

I read a quote recently that said, ‘Life is so subtle sometimes that you barely notice yourself walking through the doors you once prayed would open.’

Though poetically put as a feature of “life”, this points out the issue of our future-driven state of mind. When we are future-focused we create this illusion that what we have is never enough, and seldom celebrate our own achievements.

Practice your pep talks. Every time you look at a friend who is traveling the world or a colleague who is excelling faster in their career than you — count five things that you are proud of and accomplishments you have made. The truth is that there is always going to be someone who is better than you and there is no point in consuming yourself in jealousy and self deprecation. Know your strengths and focus on building those — your journey is just beginning.

Be Conscious of Your Intentions

It is said that the things we don’t like about others are the things we can’t stand about ourselves. Because of this it is important to try and understand what moves us. Why am I so jealous of the success of my friend? Why do I get upset about this thing my boss does? Why do I push away the people closest to me when I’m angry? And the list goes on.

Taking a minute to be transparent with ourselves is crucial to our mental health. Reflecting on what drives our emotions can help us confront our demons and build more healthy long-lasting relationships.

Be Deliberate in Your Actions

I am a firm believer that who we are isn’t defined by our beliefs, but by our actions. This means that saying you care about homelessness and Syrian refugees is irrefutably false if you do nothing to support that. Social media has given us the outlet to fill the air with empty claims about ourselves, providing us with the satisfaction of a post, rather than the gratification in true action.

Pay attention to what you do and be deliberate in your choices. Look at the people you spend the most time with, the media you engage with and the way you spend your free time. If you want to be the person everyone on Instagram thinks you to be then get after it.

Be Content with Judgement from Others

This is a concept I struggle with every single day. If i’m feeling insecure at work I am constantly asking my colleagues, ‘What do you think I can do better?’ or ‘Do you think I’m a good employee?’ The same goes for when I bring these anxieties home. I urge my roommates to tell me what I can improve on, ask if they think I’m a good person, and the list goes on.

We need to stop defining ourselves by other people’s standards. The affirmation provided by my roommates and friends at work puts a bandaid over the wound, but won’t answer those questions truly for myself.

Let’s train our minds to react to negative and unfair judgements from others by simply saying f*%# that. Let us run to our mirrors, instead of the cushion of compliments from the ones who love us, to say this is me and I am damn proud.

Being in your 20s is definitely a chaotic time… There are pressures, there is rapid growth, and then there is boundless energy, which if not channelized can take you in directions you don’t really want to go.

But what helps is to put these experiences into expressions, just like the author Marisa Rando has. Her heartfelt and incisive account serve as light to others in their 20s.

Expression is a wonderful way of understanding life and its issues… And Pink Pinjra is a great place to start. We invite readers and writers of all ages to be a part of this platform. To know how to contribute your posts, click here.

A 20-something’s Guide to Navigating the Road to Self-Discovery was originally published in Pink Pinjra on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In the western world, self improvement is the universal, lifelong doctrine. Every single day we bludgeon our minds with new goals and checklists, trying to evince better, thinner, more accomplished and productive selves. We tell ourselves we will read more books, go to the gym more often and cut our indulgences and then we will be happy. But we are wrong. We spend our entire lives trying to climb this mountain of personal betterment that we miss the view on the way up. We miss our lives.

So- this is the anti “how to” article — the rebellion against all of the pragmatic books you read to alleviate your anxieties of feeling under accomplished. This is your calling to get back to taking in experiences, making great relationships, avoiding the bulls**t and living a life that is true to you, not what others expect of you.

Taking In Experiences
As a result of social media, we have created characters of ourselves. What will most likely be referred to in the future as the greatest social experiment the world has ever known, social media has given us the tools to shape our outward identities. I have literally had people I don’t know come up to me and say, “I know you, I follow you on Instagram. You’re this liberal girl that likes to travel and post about social injustices.” Although at first taken back by this, I started to think about it seriously. Am I purposely crafting my Instagram / Facebook posts to convince my “audience” I am this one dimensional archetype? Have I carved an image of myself so hollow that I forego my true individuality to “stay in character”?

Sometimes we lie to ourselves so frequently that we start to accept it as truth. I realized that I had spent nearly my entire life playing different “roles” (admittedly my most embarrassing was my “gangster phase” in high school) to please an audience, at the cost of being untrue to myself.

Break the character you have created for yourself. Forego your ego and do the things you love or have always wanted to try even when your friends say that’s “so not you”. Travel to soak in a new surroundings and meet people who have lived life through different languages, histories and traditions. Stop “doing it for the Insta” and do it for you. Don’t craft the perfect caption- craft the perfect experience. Seek new understanding of yourself and take in your unique and beautiful life.

Making Great Relationships
One of my favorite pieces of writing is an essay written by Hunter S. Thompson called Security (see below). Borrowed from it is this concept he calls “living life second-hand”. In 2017 this translates to Netflix binges and social media feeds. We spend our days as onlookers to lives we aspire to have, watching our dreams of great romance, monetary success and #bodygoals being fulfilled by other people. While all well and good that we take joy or inspiration from the accomplishments of others, we need to be weary of our time in front of the screen.

For example, I am a firm believer that watching too many romantic comedies commoditizes love in a way that is dangerous to someone who is seeking actual intimacy (I will write another article about this someday). These films invoke emotion that start as touching and whimsical, but then, as the “realization” that these types of love are unattainable sets in, turn into envy and sadness. By convincing ourselves that these depictions (whether they are Instagram models or romantic comedies) are unrealistic, we omit personal responsibility and settle for what we think is attainable.

Finding true love and creating meaningful relationships starts with valuing genuine connection. Period. To do this we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zones, be vulnerable and share ourselves. Our greatest loves and friendships will only come when we accept the risk that comes with exposing our fears, insecurities, dreams and ambitions and the responsibility of being a caretaker for someone else’s.

Avoiding the Bulls**t
Working in advertising and marketing, it is my job to be fluent in bulls**t. It is the marketer’s sole duty to “create demand” by pulling at the heartstrings of an impressionable society who are feverishly trying to self improve every single day. Buy these Nikes! What’s the small cost of $150 to the lifetime of newfound athleticism these overpriced shoes will inspire in you? This concept of “keeping up with the Jones’” and needing to showcase your identity based on material things is what owns the western world and it has an incredibly tight grasp.

If there is anything you gather from my incoherent rambling in this article (if anyone is still reading… hello?) it is that all of it is a fallacy. No one is living the perfect life no matter how many Cartier watches they own, Instagram followers they have or books they write on tips for success. Stop trying to reach up into the higher echelons of society because you will not find happiness there. When the glitter comes off and the “oohs and ahhs” are silenced- it is still you alone you have to face in the mirror at night.

It is your values, not your goals that will make you the person you want to be. Value yourself wholly in all of your unique ways and embrace your individual journey in getting there. Draw your focus away from being the next Evan Spiegel or Jen Selter or Kylie Jenner because no matter how hard you try, you cannot be them. Instead, hold yourself accountable to doing right by you and making conscious efforts to celebrate your life as often as possible. Abandon the narrative that others have drafted for you and write your own story.

“Security … what does this word mean in relation to life as we know it today? For the most part, it means safety and freedom from worry. It is said to be the end that all men strive for; but is security a utopian goal or is it another word for rut?

Let us visualize the secure man; and by this term, I mean a man who has settled for financial and personal security for his goal in life. In general, he is a man who has pushed ambition and initiative aside and settled down, so to speak, in a boring, but safe and comfortable rut for the rest of his life. His future is but an extension of his present, and he accepts it as such with a complacent shrug of his shoulders. His ideas and ideals are those of society in general and he is accepted as a respectable, but average and prosaic man. But is he a man? has he any self-respect or pride in himself? How could he, when he has risked nothing and gained nothing? What does he think when he sees his youthful dreams of adventure, accomplishment, travel and romance buried under the cloak of conformity? How does he feel when he realizes that he has barely tasted the meal of life; when he sees the prison he has made for himself in pursuit of the almighty dollar? If he thinks this is all well and good, fine, but think of the tragedy of a man who has sacrificed his freedom on the altar of security, and wishes he could turn back the hands of time. A man is to be pitied who lacked the courage to accept the challenge of freedom and depart from the cushion of security and see life as it is instead of living it second-hand. Life has by-passed this man and he has watched from a secure place, afraid to seek anything better What has he done except to sit and wait for the tomorrow which never comes?

Turn back the pages of history and see the men who have shaped the destiny of the world. Security was never theirs, but they lived rather than existed. Where would the world be if all men had sought security and not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance that, if they won, life would be different and richer? It is from the bystanders (who are in the vast majority) that we receive the propaganda that life is not worth living, that life is drudgery, that the ambitions of youth must he laid aside for a life which is but a painful wait for death. These are the ones who squeeze what excitement they can from life out of the imaginations and experiences of others through books and movies. These are the insignificant and forgotten men who preach conformity because it is all they know. These are the men who dream at night of what could have been, but who wake at dawn to take their places at the now-familiar rut and to merely exist through another day. For them, the romance of life is long dead and they are forced to go through the years on a treadmill, cursing their existence, yet afraid to die because of the unknown which faces them after death. They lacked the only true courage: the kind which enables men to face the unknown regardless of the consequences.

As an afterthought, it seems hardly proper to write of life without once mentioning happiness; so we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” — Security, Hunter S. Thompson (1955)

Our entire lives we are urged to follow our dreams and ambitions. We are told from infancy that we can do whatever we dream and be whoever we aspire to be. Among a long list of inspirational cliches perhaps the most commonly uttered phrase is to, “do what is best for you”. But how often do we really do what is best for us? How many times do you step outside just to feel the sun on your face? Or take that trip you’ve wanted to even when no one will come with you?

If you didn’t respond “girl, I do this often”, here are some reasons why you should:

It Will Give You Amazing Experiences
New Years is my favorite holiday, because every year I reflect on all of the things I have done that I had never expected to do. It is one thing to follow through on your goals, but another to experience serendipity in the things you didn’t anticipate.

By deviating from your safe schedule you will find new people, places, and perspectives you will have never imagined you’d be a part of. The people you will meet out in the world when you escape monotony will be ones you truly connect with because they are as daring as you.

At the end of the day, taking chances isn’t about risk versus reward or any other return on investment formula to be calculated, it’s about you, and your desire to live out your innermost ambitions.

It Will Improve Your Mental Health
We all have those palm to the forehead moments in which we say “I should’ve done…”. Whether it be money we shouldn’t have spent, food we shouldn’t have eaten, an opportunity we missed out on or a relationship we let go sour- they are all failed promises we’ve made to ourselves. When we let ourselves down by doing the very things we said we wouldn’t do, or by failing to things we want to do, our self esteem takes a hit.

I want you to practice a mental exercise. I want you to close your eyes and take a moment to think of your goals and virtues. Take about 30 seconds and really think. Now, when you are faced with these conflicting scenarios I want you to do this again. Visualize who your heart is calling you to be and allow it to manifest.

If your goal isn’t to be the most fit person in the world, a meal won’t hurt and I suggest you stop worrying about it. On the other hand, if it is your goal to see the world and you keep putting off that trip to Thailand, don’t spend your money and save.

Always keep your ultimate goal in mind and remember that you hold the power to make things happen. It is only when we stop being afraid of failure and leave the things that hold us back that we can be truly happy.

It Creates Good Habits
You may have heard the quote by Will Durant that says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” In understanding this text, we find that who we are is not our dreams, beliefs and ideas, but rather how these concepts manifest into consistent actions. We may have aspirations of grand romance and worldwide altruism, but if we never actively pursue these things, are we the romantic and selfless person we think ourselves to be?

We are conditioned to live under such a heavy weight of social norms and societal expectations, that we often forget how to be spontaneous and live the way we actually want to. We must learn to say “yes” to opportunity and “no” to the things that keep us from exploring our adventurous selves. When we learn to prioritize personal go-getting, it is then that we are able to build a habit of excellence and invest in our future selves.

It Gives You Confidence
Have you ever experienced a serious tragedy in your life? One in which your heart was broken, your self esteem seriously bruised, or your sanity completely shaken? To those of you who have, I want to congratulate you on making it through and for embodying one of life’s most important principles… that you are strong enough. Suffering a kind of pain like that and making it to fight another day not only makes you tougher, but leaves your heart unafraid for the future.

It is this kind of fearlessness we need to carry into our everyday lives. By living in and for the moment, and taking the chances we wish to take, we will never need to be regretful or doubt ourselves. We will build a foundation in being firm on who we are, what we want and being able to get it ourselves.