"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Source: Stand Up to Cancer

Nearly everyone in the world has heard of the great Mahatma Gandhi and the impact he's made on hundreds of individuals who respected and looked up to him. He was a spiritual and political leader who fought for Indian independence through nonviolent, peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He taught many individuals to be kind and show that violence was not the answer.

I was never the best student in History, as many of my friends and family can tell you (hah), but I do know how influential he was. I'm a big fan of quotes and I've read numerous quotes from Gandhi, which include the above picture's quote, as well as this famous one:

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

I'm a strong supporter for service and giving back to communities who need the assistance. I knew since middle school that it was one of the things I would focus on as I grew up, even when all my career plans kept changing. From wanting to be a professional bird-watcher, to a veterinarian, to a dog breeder, to a doctor, and finally finding myself pursuing Public Health, I went through many phases where I was unsure of what I wanted to become. I wanted some way to "find myself" since I left lost and didn't have a set direction to where I wanted to head. I knew the one stable thing in my life was my passion for volunteering.

The picture quote reminds me that every day is a blessing, for we don't know what life has in store for us. Natural disasters and unfortunate violence and accidents happen when we least expect it, and we don't know if today will be the last day we are on this earth. Losing a loved one made that very clear to me, that every day I have is valuable and that I should be cherishing the people who I have in my life, because life is uncertain and I don't know if there will be a tomorrow for me to tell them "hello" or "I love you" or "let's catch up some time."

The second part of the quote offsets the first in my point of view, because it tells me that life has so much to offer us. We have so much to learn if we look in the right places, if we expose ourselves to unfamiliar territory and force ourselves to be outside of our comfort zone. That's how I feel when I decide to volunteer in or travel to other countries. It's a different experience than volunteering in our local communities and it's definitely a learning experience.

I am two days away from going to Mexico and I'm definitely scared but excited at the same time. The uncertainty freaks me out but I know that forcing myself out of the comfort of my home will be a great way to grow and help me find myself. I hope whoever reads this feels inspired to do good in the world, no matter how small the gesture may be, it only takes one action to get the ball rolling :)