"Finding your feet on a wonderful road..."

One of my very favorite Christmas movies is the 2003 comedy, Elf , starring Buddy the Elf. There's a point in the movie when Buddy gets a job at a department store and the new manager asks him, "Why are you smiling like that?" To this Buddy simply replies, "I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite." I can't get over that quote and the simply joy it holds. You can't go wrong with a smile. I mean think about it. It's the universal sign for happiness. Everyone recognizes a smile to mean that you have found gladness in some part of life whether it be something big or small. Oh how I long to find the joy and love that Buddy experiences in life, for how often do you genuinely smile about something without having even the slightest feeling of love and joy towards it? When I think about my time here in China, I can't deny the presence of smiles all around me. I have to admit that (though I miss everyone I love and care about back home mo...

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go... ( Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess)   I love this book. I really do. And it's funny just how true it seems to be. I've heard it and read it a million and one times and every time, I never thought the day would come when I would really have a choice about the places I would go. There's an order to life: preschool...kindergarten...1st, 2nd, 3rd grade, all the way up to high school graduation. Sure, I got to pick the college I wanted to attend, but I always knew I would go to college so I never had to wonder what my next step would be for 22 years of my life. But then this happened... Yep. College graduation. And everything changed. I had options. Well, ...