I have had a lot of time just to think during my time in Ecuador, which, in the past, is something that I have not had a lot of time to do. I have been able to contemplate how I want my life to be and how I want my gap year to be. I have come to one conclusion: I want to be happy. This may seem like an obvious and very simple deduction, but my life seems to have been moving so fast that I didn’t really think about it much. It’s basic, but being happy is important.
I believe that my experience in Ecuador has been, and will continue to be, very valuable in my development. With this being said, I am not necessarily the happiest person right now. My situation is difficult, and this fact is apparent to me every day. However, I believe that going through difficult times is necessary in personal growth. These hard times are very valuable to me and I appreciate them for what they are. In many circumstances, it is the difficult times that define one’s character.
I’ll be honest about this; last year was difficult for me. I am not going to go into detail, but it was a hard year. There was a decent amount of disappointment, as a number of things did not work out the way that thought I wanted them to. During my time in Ecuador, I have realized that I am ready to just be happy and enjoy my life. Life is too short for this not to be the case.
I do not want to be unhappy, but at the same time I do not want to leave Ecuador and feel as though I have not gotten as much out of this as I can. Because honestly, I don’t think that I will ever live here again. I wouldn’t trade the experience that I have had here for anything and it has given me an opportunity to look at my life from an outside perspective. I want to stay on the great track that I am on right now, and when I think that this path is taking me home I will follow it (I kinda got all metaphorical right there), whenever this may be. I want to continue moving forward and living my life to the fullest. But until I come home, I’m going to “be here now.”
This is the conclusion of my two-part blog post on my experience so far. If you read the whole thing, congratulations and thank you. There was a lot of stuff that I needed to get out there. In case you were wondering, “ñuca yachashcacuna” means “my experience” in Kichwa. Thanks again!
