I have now been back in the states for about two months. It's amazing to me how fast the time has gone by. It's also amazing how people have the innate ability to adapt to their surroundings. I miss many people and experiences in Korea, but I can genuinely say that I feel like it was the right decision to come home. After living apart from family, you realize just how important family is to you, and how they have helped to make you the person that you are today. The number of people who have told me, while living aborad, how strong I am on the inside is incredible. Before living abroad, I never would have really agreed with that statement. I credit a lot of that strength from the unconditional love and support I have been lucky enough to receive from my family, even support received while being half way across the world.
Have I changed? On the outside, maybe not, but inside I feel like a different person in many ways. I feel stronger, smarter, more creative, more open-minded, more confident, more excited to live and experience all life has to offer. I'm more open to possibilities and directions my life may take than I ever was. I recently heard an analogy of life being like a river, we swim down the same current, and sometimes venture off and get tangled in the weeds or take a different route, but somehow continue to run along the same current and end up in the same river along the way, although the scenery may have changed. I like this analogy and feel like that is where I am at in my life now. I'm swimming down the current, have ended up back in my hometown, but my perception of things have changed and I'm looking forward to the challenging rapids ahead.