Travel

http://www.postsecret.com/

Since this is my last passion blog post, I thought I'd pick a postsecret that correlates with my life passion: traveling. So far, I have visited 14 European countries and this summer I am planning to broaden my horizons and study abroad in Latin America, more specifically, in Mexico. Personally, there is nothing that makes me feel more alive and more happy than visiting a foreign place and immersing myself in new cultures.
What I enjoy most about traveling is the thrill of the unknown; anything can happen, you can meet any type of person, and each day is just a brand new adventure when you are abroad.

This postsecret reminds me of my own life dream. I never really planned on marrying early or having kids like a lot of my friends have; all I want to do was find a friend and just travel. I think traveling has changed me in many ways. Most importantly, it made me such an open and nonjudgmental person. I am not only free of judgment of all cultures and religions but I also am deeply fascinated by them. My best friend from home is Persian and Muslim; my two best friends here at Penn State are Indian and Vietnamese. I love diversity and I love interacting and learning from these people who are so different from me.

Secondly, I think traveling has made me "grow up" and mature more, in a good way. I remember the first time I traveled, my parents put my on a plane by myself at age 12 to take a trip to Poland for the summer and live with my aunt. Its made me less reliant on others and allowed me learn how to take care of myself.

Overall, I cannot stress how important and life-changing traveling can be and it worries me when some people have never been out of the country. There is so much to see abroad and so much new cultures, languages, and types of people to meet. :)

Bad habits

http://www.postsecret.com/

Two wrongs don't make a right but revenge is a part of human nature. To me, this postsecret is just an example of how people try to get back at each other and in the end up hurting one another.

Revenge makes common sense: you hurt me, I hurt you. And it’s hard to be the bigger person and just deal with the hurt and do nothing back. I'm a big believer in karma; what goes around comes around. I try to live by that motto and that usually helps me avoid taking revengeful actions.

Another lesson from this postsecret is that people are too quick to judge. The person assumed her partner was cheating when he actually was not. A lot of times, things aren't how they seem but we are usually too impatient to find out the real facts.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that we all possess bad qualities: revengeful motives and quick to form judgments.  And the only way to solve this is to make a conscious effort to be a bigger person.

http://www.postsecret.com/

I am adding a second postsecret today because I think this one correlates with the one above. Although we all do possess bad qualities, sometimes people love us for them. Or maybe a better way to put it is that sometimes a person can overlook our bad sides and still love us. This postsecret is about a woman who loves her drug addict partner even though he consumes drugs.

In my opinion, our bad habits/qualities help define us. The point is to find people who are able to deal with our vices and help us improve.

Going to Hell

http://www.postsecret.com/

"I can't believe in GOD. He'll know I only believe because I'm afraid of HELL"

Last semester I took a philosophy class where we analyzed the concept of God. Although it was a long, controversial topic, the general conclusion was that it was irrational to believe in a higher being but that it was beneficial. There is no concrete proof that God exists and if you factor in that he is supposed to be: Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and All-knowing... there is no way that a God could be all these three at the same time. For example, if God gave us free will to make our own choices, then how can he be all-knowing? It would be impossible and therefore it does not make sense to believe in him.

However, the other side of the argument was that "what do we have to lose?." If we do not believe in him, then we have the chance that we will go to Hell. But by believing in him all we may lose is time worshiping him and gain eternal Heaven in return. We are better off believing in a God. But does that justify us to become religious? I don't think so. I think that many people are raised into a religion, are scared of Hell, and therefore attend church every Sunday but never truly believe.

Like the postsecret states, our reasons for being religious sometimes aren't pure and contradict the concept of believing. Our fear of death is so strong that religion gives us hope, but that doesn't necessarily mean we actually believe.

I do not know where I stand on this issue. I was raised Catholic but I stopped following “organized religion” for the same reason that the postsecret writer did… I don’t want to waste my time with something that my heart and head didn't fully support just because I am scared of death. Thus, I consider myself to be spiritual and not religious.