GRATITUDE : WHERE DO I FEEL THANKFUL? THANK YOU. PETER PARKER “If you haven’t all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you wouldn’t want.” – John. In Life, I comprehend that life is full of gratitude even when you are grievance. Destiny can not be thwarted, some people … Continued
Of all of the places I have travelled, none has been stranger than Saudi Arabia. The rules of society baffle and the culture follows a secret map that’s never shown to me. I was surprised to end up here and feel anything but miserable. And yet, it is the very miserableness that makes me grateful … Continued
Foreigners in Taiwan On the way to see my best friend from Vancouver, I am lost in Taiwan’s web of underground train stations and tunnels. Someone asks if I need a map, and then, if I need it in another language. I accept his help, a stranger in my birthplace. Deep within Shilin Night Market, … Continued
KEZIA ‘You can be the author of the happiness that you crave.’ Kezia’s last words are as fresh in my mind today as when she first uttered them eight years ago. Obviously, she never knew what impact her words would have on me many years after. Ensconced in those words were grace and gratitude. I … Continued
It’s 1 PM and I’m laying in a bed in a six bed dormitory in Bangkok, Thailand. I was feeling sorry for myself until about a half an hour ago. Last night after 13 hours of buses, trains, border crossings and 24 hours of not eating-delirium, I eagerly followed a cab driver to his car … Continued
One Man’s Thankfulness, Another Man’s Happiness By Isaac Kim It was day four of the trip, two days before we had to leave Kota Kinabalu to fly back to Korea. My once skinny arm was bloated to the size of my thighs, my knuckles nowhere to be seen and my fingers swelling by the hour. … Continued
Gratitude on Horseback in Nicaragua Heat presses in from every direction. Humidity hangs in every inch of the atmosphere, teaming up with the jungle to fight off any chance of a rescuing breeze. Shrubs covered in giant thorns and fire ants drape over the bank, making me cringe every time a leaf or branch scrapes … Continued
When I arrived in Kenya, my nerves were shot. I had traveled to Nairobi from Australia via Bangkok, where I had been stranded for a few extra days due to a stress-induced moment of thoughtlessness in which I failed to notice that the time that the Kenyan government was changing over from visa-on-arrival to online … Continued
The Cross-Continental Connection in Australia It’s not a night like that night when the full moon winked at me. No, tonight is without any clouds and the moon is now a crisp slither surrounded by a splattering of stars. The first thing I see is the swan song of Orion’s Belt. It’s always the same … Continued
Before I head to the airport, I walk the streets of Naha City, the capitol of Japan’s southern-most island, Okinawa. As I stalk down the clean sidewalks, several black-haired heads turn. I’m a foreigner, and even in the city where it’s common to see foreigners, especially those on Kokusaidori, or “International Street”, few venture on … Continued