Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

I am writing this on my last evening in the children's home 'Albergue Infantil Salesiano Domingo Savio' in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico. I will sleep one more time here and tomorrow I start a new chapter in my Latin-American adventure. I think this is an excellent timing to look back for a moment as well to fix my eyes on a new horizon.

About my life in the children's home I can say there are things I will be missing, things I will definitely not be missing, things I have learned, new habits acquierd,...

I will be missing my kids, all of them, they will forever be a part of me and I hope I have played a significant role in some of their lifes such that I will be part of them as well.

I learned that a lot of pride and fulfilment can be found in mundane tasks like washing your clothes, buying groceries, cooking a simple meal, cleaning a bathroom,... The only condition for finding pride in those tasks is to do it with the intention of doing it very well. 

I learned there is always something to be sad about. But there is also always something to be happy about. Being happy and feeling happy is a choice, but you need to work on it. Being an optimist is not a set character trait, it is a habit that can be learned and acquired. Choosing to feel happy does take courage and effort. It most definitely is not always the easiest path. 

I will not be missing the food in the children's home. Mexico is definitely not a Vegan-friendly country and living in an institution that has only very limited financial capacities did not make things easier. I would be lying if I said it wasn't very challenging from time to time but I am proud to say I had the strength to stay true to my own virtues and morality. I was often hungry and I need to buckle up my belt a few sizes tighter now but I still feel strong and healthy and more than ever convinced that our future will be vegan or won't be anything at all.

I learned that if you want to achieve something great, sacrifices will always have to be made.

I took some time out of my usual context. This gave me the time and the space to think about my life (past, present and future) with a bird's eye perspective. It gave me the opportunity to put some very clear goals for myself and to make some very concrete plans for my future in order to achieve those goals. I now know quite exactly what I want to be doing with my life and you can't imagine the peace of mind it has brought me. I am not going to clarify all of those goals here and now, if you are curious I can only say: stay tuned on the show that is my life and see for yourself how my plans develop themselves.

Out of necessity I acquired the habit of waking up early and going to bed early. I can assure you, going to sleep latest at 22h and getting out of bed at 5h45 makes me an immensly productive being. I am not planning on leaving this habit behind. I feel my body is quite adjusted to it and it isn't actually that difficult anymore as it used to be to get out of bed. Definitely something I want to stick to. 

I still want to change the world and I still want to make it a better place for everyone. But I convinced myself that the best way of doing that is living by example. I try to be the embodyment of the change I want to see in the world. Or as Rumi (a thirteenth century Persian philosopher) once said: Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

On that note I conclude this post.

I wish you all very well.

Life in Albergue Infantil Salesiano Out, backpack-life in.

B. Supertramp