The reason I want to go to sleep each night...

'That is to say, man must become evanescent in God. Must forget his own selfish conditions that he may thus arise to the station of sacrifice. It should be to such a degree that if he sleep, it should not be for pleasure, but to rest the body in order to do better, to speak better, to explain more beautifully, to serve the servants of God and to prove the truths. When he remains awake, he should seek to be attentive, serve the Cause of God and sacrifice his own stations for those of God. When he attains to this station, the confirmations of the Holy Spirit will surely reach him, and man with this power can withstand all who inhabit the earth.' - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

This for me, is such a powerful quotation.
It really puts things in perspective!
SLEEP!
I LOVE sleep!
I get as much of it as I can, and drag it out until the last possible second every morning.
But then, I go and read a quote like this.

I love how it implies that sleep shouldn't be for us.
I love that. I want to be able to roll out of bed each morning, grateful that my body is rested and my mind is alive, so that I can dedicate every inch of it to serving humanity and being the best person I could possibly be.
How amazing would it be to have that attitude.

I guess I'm not there yet. :p
But I don't think it's just about sleep.
It's about living your life completely selflessly.
For others and for God.
Just think, how amazing would that be to live like that. :)

How amazing would it be, to not care about anything else but each other.
To not want anything else besides nearness to God and to serve humanity.
To not be distracted by all these little things that don't really matter, and to all be working towards the same goal... a happier world.

Wouldn't that be beautiful?

And it starts here.
From the moment we wake up each morning,
to the reason we go to sleep. :)

Lessons learned this year: COURAGE

So something I've been thinking about a lot this past year, is courage.

It sounds a bit random at first.
We all want to be brave.
We all want the sorting hat to yell 'Griffindor!' as it touches our heads.
We all wish we were the ones to say 'Dauntless' on our choosing day.
We all want to believe we'd jump out of airplanes and dive to the bottom of the ocean, and that we wouldn't be afraid.
None of us want fear to hold us back.
None of us want to be weak, or afraid, or left behind.
And when the time comes, none of us want to look back to see a life that we haven't lived.

But what is living?
Is living jumping out of airplanes?

I never considered myself to be brave.
I'm the girl who always wishes she'd brought an extra minute with her to the doctors office, so she could be just a little bit more ready for the needle.
The one who evacuates buildings when she sees a spider and triple checks all the locks in the house before going to sleep.
I'm the girl who wishes she were built for airplanes.
But maybe I'm not,
And maybe I never will be.

Maybe it doesn't matter.

Because courage is not just about facing fears for the sake of the self.
True courage, at least from my point of view, comes from a place much deeper than that.
A place where those I love can live.
A place where my love for those around me drives me to be a better person.
The kind of person who pushes herself, makes good choices, stands up for what she believes in and when something is important, never ever walks away.
No matter how scary these things can be.
Because it's not just about me.

It's a wonderful thing to push your own boundaries for personal growth.
But to push our boundaries for each other, for humanity and so we can be the best people possible for the sake of the world that we live in.
That's brave.

Every time you make a difficult decision, the best way you know how...
Every time you reach out to someone, even though you yourself need reaching for...
Every time you speak your mind to a room full of strangers...
Every time you reach into your back pocket and give that extra minute you've been saving away...
Every time you let go of something that's been holding you back...
And or some people, simply taking those first few steps out their front door..
We turn to the world, and again we are brave.

This is love, 
And to love is an incredibly brave thing to do.

Blog Fail

So, as it turns out, I actually can't keep up the momentum when it comes to blog writing.

It's funny because at the beginning of my year of service, I felt like I had so much energy and so much to say! I'm pretty sure I wrote a few blogs about a pot plant in my living room...

But apparently, these things die down, and I have failed to keep the world as updated as I'd like.. which is a bit of a shame.

Here I am, in my last week of service here in Orkney, and it has been an interesting year to say the least. I feel as though I could have done alot more, if I'm being totally honest, and I wish I were leaving this beautiful place with a bit more of a distinguished footprint for future YOS/pioneers to build from.

Regardless though the community here is built of amazingly beautiful people, and I am going to miss them to bits when I leave.. but I'm trying not to think about that. I guess change is always rough! Y'know? And as life goes on, we face changes and uppy/downy points which test us so that we can learn and grow (Uppie/Doonie - hehe! ;) ).

I really love Scotland. I love the people I've met, and it will be tough to say goodbye.
But one of the things I love about being a Bahai, is being part of an international community, inside of a even bigger international community! Your friends become your family and you carry your family in your heart wherever you go.

x