We Are All Malala

http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/22/the-problem-with-the-we-are-all-trope/

I remember first hearing about Malala Yusufzai back in October 2012 when she was shot by the Taliban. I remember being horrified that the Taliban attempted to assassinate a 14-year-old girl, and I remember being very curious about why she would be targeted. I started reading articles about her. She was a voice standing up for girl's education in Pakistan, while the Taliban was forbidding girls from any education. She wrote under an alias for the BBC of what it was like to live under Taliban rule, and I read several of the articles. She was a modern day Anne Frank, with the words of a little girl living in horrific conditions, reaching out to speak to the world about the conditions in which she was living. The girl was inspiring, as was the catchphrase that caught my attention and my heart, "We are ALL Malala".

Words cannot express how much I enjoyed reading her book I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.

I loved her story of her life, and I enjoyed the background that was given of the region. While she tells her story, she explains the history of her people, the Pashtuns (a people who helped save the life of Marcus Luttrell who wrote Lone Survivor), Swat, and Pakistan itself. I'm pretty sure most of the Western world does not know the history of how Pakistan was created or the tumultuous history they have experienced. It put the book into perspective of how the Taliban could come to power. She tells of events, which many heard in the news, but we see it from a Pakistani perspective.

Her story is inspiring and eye-opening. It makes you think, and take a look at yourself. It makes you grateful for the education you have, and the ability to open your mouth and speak your mind without fear. It amazes me that a 16 year-old girl has done more to inspire the world than I could hope. She makes me believe that it is possible to educate every boy and girl. Her whole book is quotable, and I wish everyone could read it.

Something I really liked about her book was how important her family is to her, and she shows how her parents have impacted her life.  As I have read about Malala, one of my favorite things was how it is explained that she was once her father's daughter, but now he is "Malala's father". He stepped out of cultural norms to do what he believed is right, and his actions have molded a daughter who has inspired the world.  He taught her the importance of women. 

A man goes out to work, he earns a wage, he comes back home, he eats, he sleeps. That's what he does. Our men think earning money and ordering around others is where power lies. They don't think power is in the hands of the women who takes care of everyone all day long, and gives birth to their children. In our house my mother managed everything because my father was so busy (Yousafzai 116). 

When I read those words, it gave me such joy to see that other people notice the power that women have to influence and change things. Sometimes, people see stay-at-home-mothers as less, but I see them as more. They are the ones that can make the biggest differences. Teach their children correct principles that will impact generations to come. In the book you see this, but you also see how women who are illiterate and without education can be easily manipulated. When people are educated, they can read, think, and draw their own conclusions rather than have someone tell them their own interpretations of things.

http://instagramquotes.blogspot.com/2013/12/malala-yousafzai-quotes-for-facebook.html

She speaks of the fear she lived through, with suicide bombers and the Taliban's reign, and the comfort her father's words gave her:"'At night our fear is strong...but in the morning, in the light, we find our courage again'"(Yousafzai 138).

She's speaking about writing for the BBC under the pen name Gul Makai, which means 'grief-stricken': "I began to see that the pen and the words that come from it can be much more powerful than machine guns, tanks, or helicopters. Awe were learning how to struggle. And we were learning how powerful we are when we speak" (Yousafzai 157).

She speaks of the importance of education and how the Taliban forbid girls from going to school. "'Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow.' Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human"(Yousafzai 162).

http://abcworldnews.tumblr.com/post/64023487908/i-dont-mind-if-i-have-to-sit-on-the-floor-at

Under the Taliban's reign, I was reminded of Nazi Germany, where people would turn on their fellow human beings. They were ruled by terror, and people's lives were governed by feelings of self-preservation instead of love for others. Malala said, "some people are afraid of ghosts, some of spiders or snakes --- in those days we were afraid of our fellow human beings" (Yousafzai 166). 

Her father's dream his whole life was to run a school. He believed in education and accountability. He said, "My only ambition...is to educate my children and my nation as much as I am able. But when half of your leaders tell lies and the other half is negotiating with the Taliban, there is nowhere to go. One has to speak out" (Yousafzai 216).

http://paulinemaria.blogspot.com/2013/10/malala-pride-of-britain-another-global.html

Even with all the terrible things in the world around her and being shot, Malala is unwavering in her faith and lives with an attitude of gratitude. "We human beings don't realize how great God is. He has given us an extraordinary brain and a sensitive loving heart. He has blessed us with two lips to talk and express our feelings, two eyes which see a world of colors and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, a nose which smells the beauty of fragrance, and two ears to hear the words of love. As I found with my ear, no one knows how much power they have in their each and every organ until they lose one"(Yousafzai 300-1).

Her words are so powerful and inspiring. "Don't be afraid --- if you are afraid, you cannot move forward" (Yousafzai 308). 

In the past few years of my life, it has amazed me how many girls I have met that are younger than me and have inspired me. I have been so blessed to meet girls who dream big and remind me to do the same. The Taliban thought they could stop Malala, but they created a stronger voice. We must take the challenges that come our way, and become stronger. We learn from each challenge, to become better, stronger, and wiser. "I want to learn and be trained well with the weapon of knowledge. Then I will be able to fight more effectively for my cause" (Yousafzai 311). We all have a cause, that we can fight for with love and the weapon of knowledge. 

Birthday Wish List 2014

My birthday is coming up...you know what that means....a birthday WISH LIST! Really, I don't do gifts most of the time. People normally buy you bath stuff, candles, or weird self-help books (aka crap). It's true. I like practice gifts. Things I will actually like and/or use. Here is my list to help you out if you feel the need to buy me something. Normally, if I don't get this stuff as gifts, I either end up buying this stuff for myself throughout the year or realize how unnecessary it is in my life. #missindependent

1. Travel Towel - XL
2. Electric Adapter  (I keep having to borrow my parent's adapter when I travel. I think it's time to get my own.)
3. TSA approved 4-digit lock
4. portable power strip
5. 75+L backpack -This is just to remind me later I need to finally buy one. Osprey Ariel 75-blue
6. Solar charger?  - I just found out these exist. Don't know if I really want it or just think it's fascinating. 
7. Errand of Angels DVD
8. Passport holder. (ok. so this one I really dont need, but I decided I want it. It's really low on my "want" list. But I'm putting it on there so I dont forget)

Passion

Passion. You hear the word passion, and there are so many different connotations and ideas that may go through your head. This is the kind of passion you may be thinking about....

Francesco Hayez, Il bacio (1859)

Too bad for you, pervert, I will not be talking about that kind ;) I'm talking about getting excited about what you do everyday. Feeling passionate about your life and the decisions you make.

You see, I’ve been seeing a theme in my life recently. That theme is “what are you passionate about?” This started about two months ago. Maybe longer. Okay, for a while, I've been feeling very blah. Like there is nothing left for me in life. Everything I do has no point. I have no direction or goals. Blah, blah-blah, blah, blah. You get the idea. I was talking to my Bishop at church about how nothing excites me anymore and how i am feeling dead inside (cue the dramatics). His idea was "Think of something that you really love, that you feel passionate about, and do it." Say whaaaaaaat? Something I'm "passionate" about? Who even says things like that. Nevertheless, it really got me thinking. What kind of things do I find exciting? I started making a list, because I am a list maker (hence my love of lists). I thought of how one of the happiest times in my life was when I was on my mission, thinking of others before myself all the time. I wanted to get back to that. I sent in a volunteer application to the Ronald McDonald House in Houston, and noted a few other organizations that peaked my interest. I didn't want to apply to them all in case all of them wanted me, and I end up over-committing myself. I thought about how I really wanted to learn more of the scriptures, so I started making a list of scriptures I want to memorize. I also looked into some Spanish classes, but my work schedule is so unpredictable; I cannot sign up for regularly scheduled classes I have to pay for, since something may come up, and I would not be able to attend the classes I already paid for. It was really invigorating. Except the volunteering didn't happen immediately. Turns out you have to do training before you can volunteer, and finding a time slot I can attend is a wee bit tricky.

Later I came across this. My company has this central website that has articles and updates about the company. There was this article written by Mark Sanborn. There were 5 questions and descriptions of the questions that got me thinking. So the questions (with some of my answers) are:

1.      What would you do for free? Is there an activity you enjoy so much that you’d do it for free, even if other people would consider it work?
-Travel. I would travel for free forever if I could. 
-Read Harry Potter books....read most books actually
-Write a blog...oh wait....I already do that
-Watch Scandal...check.
-Sleep and/or nap

2.      What riles you? Irritation can be a great motivator. Are there problems or annoyances that drive you up the wall? Perhaps you can find your passion in fixing them.
-Human trafficking, especially the sex slave trade
-Deforestation and humans ruining animal environments
-Sexist behavior
-Racism. Even when you say it as a joke, it's still racist
-Politics
-stupid people, and uneducated people
-Genocide
-North Korea (heinous human rights violations aka their modern concentration camps)
-Women's rights, especially in rape cases, (please refer to India's most recent issues)

3.      What interests you? What do you like to read about and study? When you’re in a bookstore or a newsstand or browsing online, what piques your interest? Do you find yourself returning to the same topics again and again? Perhaps you've found your passion. Your heart may be telling you what it wants; you just need to recognize it.
-History. Especially WWII.
-Doctors Without Borders
-Memoirs of Child Soldiers in Africa
-Defectors from North Korea
-Missionary Work with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

4.      Who interests you? What groups of people do you tend to notice? That is, whom are you most interested in helping? Are you drawn to coach, counsel, encourage, or teach? Some people have a heart for young children. Others volunteer their time to help those who are underprivileged or live on the streets…Find out what demographic you’re wired to connect with.
-Malala Yousafzai
-Doctors Without Borders
-Ronald McDonald House

5.      What will minimize your regrets? If you have regrets at the end of your life, what do you think they’ll be? We tend to ask ourselves, Will I regret doing this? But often the better question is, Will I regret not doing this? The most common workplace regrets I hear are from people who get to the end of their careers and feel like they dedicated their lives to work they didn’t feel was important or they wasted their time just to make money.
-Not seeing the world
-Not having an impact in the world

I was having a conversation with Lindsay over lunch the other day about how in college, you have theses big ambitions of having a super successful career, traveling for work, and being in high-power positions. Now that I've been in the work force, I look at all that I've achieved. I've met ever goal I've set for myself at this phase in my life. My life has gone exactly as planned. The question is: has is everything I hoped it would be and more?

My life has put my hopes and dreams into perspective. I don't want to live my life working. I want to live my life living. I believe you can live your life with work in it, and I think that living your life working are two very different concepts. I want to enjoy life. I want to be. I want to do. I want to have a life with people in in, not just my co-workers. I want to look forward to waking up in the mornings. I want a life I'm passionate about.

A week after I had a conversation with Lindsay about my changing priorities, I had an inspiring conversation with my cousin Dan. He spoke of travelling the world, something I've always wanted to do. It's not like I haven't seen the world before, but there is so much to see and do. People always tell me "Do before you..." Have fun before you get married, buy a house, own a car, become old and boring, etc. Honestly, everyone makes marriage sound terrible and adulthood: torturous. I told my new hair stylist of my dreams, and he said "do it while you're young. you're still a baby! you have to do it now." 

I was reading this article online and the one line that stood out to me was: The person you will spend the most time with in your life is YOURSELF, so better try to make yourself as interesting as possible. I loved it. I loved it, and it further encouraged my new life plan. What is my new life plan, you may ask. Well guess what? I can't tell you. Not right now. I'm working on living in the present, and when I think of my new life plan, I get so excited for the future, I forget to enjoy the now. I have my volunteer training on Saturday, which will hopefully kick off some volunteer time. I just joined a 9 to 5 running program with Teri Jo, where you start running (walking for me) and after 9 weeks  you accomplish your goal of running a 5K. I want to build up my endurance and maybe become a runner, so I can escape if I need to run for my life.  I am have a goal of doing a Urban Survival class, so I can avoid being taken. That's right. The next year of my life is going to be a training and preparation for any adventure that can come my way...and I am excited.

PS. This is MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, not a photo I found on the internet :P

A Day at Sea World

I have a dream. That dream is to train/swim with dolphins; The dolphins and I will have lots of fun  together as we practice them doing tricks and they push me through the water with their nose on my foot like a human torpedo. I remember when I discovered this dream. We went to the Madrid Zoo for Charlene's birthday celebration, and at this zoo, there was a dolphin show. It was awe and love at first sight. I have since decided that this is probably not a realistic dream, and should not count on it happening. However, I love seeing dolphin shows. 

Now, I have never been to any Sea World in the world, and I really didn't know what to expect. But imagine my surprise and excitement as there was a giant pool of dolphins hanging out and showing off for us. After years of wanting to go to Sea World and a couple of attempts at making actual plans to go but the plans going awry, this trip was magical. We stayed by the dolphin pool for a while trying to get the dolphins to swim to us so we could pet them. Eventually, it happens. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but a kind of rubbery feel was not it....but it was cool nonetheless. 

Now let's backtrack a little. I have been planning this day for over a month, because I wanted to go with my Uncle John, so I had to wait for him to have a free Saturday. I also wanted my lil sis to come, and that was the plan. My mom found out we were going and wanted to come too. Okay. Then this week happened, and it started getting pretty chilly for us Texans. Saryah called to tell me that her and mom thought it would be too cold to go, so they decided not to come. I said okay and informed them that I was still going.  Nbd, right? (I had also checked the weather and knew it would be warm for Saturday) About an hour later, they felt bad that I was still going without them and decided to come along. I'm not a fan of pity-company, but whatever makes them feel better. The day after, Saryah tells me her car needs to get worked on before our road-trip  so she has to cancel because she needs to get her car fix;. That's fine. Come Friday, I drive home to pick up my mom and start the drive to San Antonio, but she has to clean her room first. What do I do? I fell asleep in dad's new sleeping bag that he's in love with. Allegedly, there were multiple attempts to wake me up, and I even responded, but I don't remember anything until I wake up and realize it's 8pm and we still have a 3 hour drive to make. Oops. On the drive, my mom falls asleep and Elo & Stacia call to put me on speakerphone as I listen in to the mission reunion talks, because they are good friends and I couldn't make it. I understood about 50% of what was said because the volume at which I was hearing it at was too low and I couldn't make it louder. My Mazda does not have bluetooth. Boo. However, the parts I did hear were great & priceless.

Before we went off to Sea World on Saturday, we all went for brunch. My grandpa didn't want to come to Sea World because he said it would be too much like work having to walk around all day. lol. okay grandpa. When we ordered at the restaurant....the waitress address my grandpa and uncle in Spanish, but spoke to me in English. Really??? Seriously. The irony comes from me speaking more Spanish than my uncle. ;) We dropped grandpa off and then headed to Sea World.

The day was great! We saw seals and sea lions. We saw the penguins and took pictures because my grandma loves penguins. Then we went on a roller-coaster. The Steel Eel. Uncle John hadn't been on a roller coaster in decades and wasn't sure if he would enjoy it. He was a little scared, but I assured him that unless you have a the things that lock your whole body into place, it can't be that scary. We just had a bar across our laps. Easy peasy. Needless to say, mom and Uncle John were not fans of the ride. Blast.

After this, we went to a nice show. It had beluga whales, dolphins and birds! Mix that with synchronized swimming, acrobatics, and high dives with intense flips and twists, the show had me entranced with its awesomeness. Mom even decided to get souvenir cups with Shamu on them. ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was about to explode from joy. After this show we went to what I've been waiting for all my life. This is on my bucket list: See Shamu. Let me tell you. It was AWESOME! It makes me want to watch Free Willy. Luckily, Uncle John warned us about the Spash Zone, so we avoided it. Sadly, other people did not seem to comprehend what the giant "Splash Zone" warning in front of their seat meant, because when the whales started splashing the audience, already drenched people leaped to their feet and started fleeing to higher ground like it was a tsunami.

It was everything I hoped for and more. A dream come true. A true moment of joy in life to look back at forever. Then it was time for another roller-coaster. The Great White. Uncle John and mom stayed at the entrance to wait. Since I was a party of one, I sat with group of three, and I'm pretty sure I got a strange look from the dad I was sitting next too. Yeah. That's okay because the line was super short, and just added to my happy day. The ride was great. Loved it. Had the twists, loops, and speed necessary to make a good ride. We then went and saw some reptiles. I even saw the Harry Potter boa constrictor, and was trying to make the glass vanish....my powers are a little unreliable at the moment. But I did send out a Snapchat with a "Thankssss amigo" out to some appreciative hp friends.

We saw the alligators, and thought it was pretty fascinating how they did absolutely nothing. Seriously. They didn't move. #boring. We then decided to go out to dinner, as we were tired, and had enjoyed the better part of the day at the park. It was great. An A+ adventure. We had some dinner, then went to visit grandma. When we got there, we told us that our cousin Jackie was coming over too. We were pretty excited. After about an hour of waiting, I called Jackie to see where she was....She was at home....which is not in San Antonio. lol. We later realized that when I called earlier, I didn't identify myself, and Grandma thought I was Jackie. Oops. We then went back to Uncle John's to check in with gpa, and show Uncle John some funny videos on the internet. lol. After some quality time together, we hit the road with only a little stop at Buc-ee's. We arrived safe and sound.

Sunday morning I woke up frazzled and upset. Why? Because it was General Conference day, and General Conference starts at 10:00am (MDT). I had woken up at 9:30 CST and couldn't believe that my parents didn't wake me up for the beginning of conference, which is at 9am CST! I ran downstairs only to see  my dad a the table and I say very accusingly "Dad! I cannot believe you didn't wait your own daughter up in time to hear the words of the prophet and his apostles!" He responded calmly, "It doesn't start till 11". I said "Ummm. It starts at 10 am Mountain Standard Time. That's 9am here!" He casually tells me to turn on the computer and check the website. I did....only to discover that 10am MDT *is* 11am CST. Oops. Been living in California and Arizona time zones too long.

Mom woke up shortly later and made migas for breakfast. Yum yum. I started reading Born to Run #goodbook, and we waited for conference to start. Conference was great. I think my favourites were Elder Perry and Elder Holland's talk. Inspired and wonderful. I love listening to apostles of God. Yay. It was a day of diving revelation from our Heavenly Father. I am forever grateful that God speaks to His chosen servants on the earth in this day. I am grateful that Christ lives and the peace that brings me in such a time of uncertainty and conflict on the earth. I am grateful that I know the true nature of God and His son, Jesus Christ, that they are two separate beings, Father and Son, united in purpose. I am grateful in the knowledge that Christ leads His church today through His prophet, as he has done since the beginning of time, as documented in the Bible and The Book of Mormon. I am forever grateful, and although I am nowhere close to perfect, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and is willing to forgive my shortcomings as I come unto Him and try again everyday.