Changing My Life Perspective

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the quote, "Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read."  I first heard this when listening to Dave Ramsey, but I'm not exactly sure who was the first to say it (maybe John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach, according to a quick Google search).  I believe this quote is spot-on.


Although there are definite advantages to living in one place during one's lifetime, moving to another state has pushed Micah and I to branch out and make new friends.  Often we are drawn to people who had a similar upbringing to us, but sometimes we befriend those who came from a completely different background.  We are both introverts so I'm pretty confident we would not be meeting many new people if we had stayed in Holland, MI our whole lives, and I am loving the fact we have met many new people over the years who have taught us different things about life.


One of my newest friendships is with a co-worker named Araceli.  She lived in Mexico for ten years as a child and she still speaks Spanish with her husband and family.  Although she is practically fluent in English, per her request I correct her when I hear her use the wrong tense or gender (he for she and vice versa).  Araceli started running in high school and became pretty fast in college.  Since college she has not been as consistent with her running but right before we met each other she had decided she wanted to start running regularly again.  We have been training together for the La Luz Trail Run (after much persuasion she convinced me to train with her), and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and learning more about her past.  She definitely has put my life into perspective.  As I learn more about her childhood I am astounded that even though she did not have the same opportunities I did growing up, she does not let that get in the way of her success.  She is almost done with her MBA and has high aspirations for her future.  I have a lot of respect for Araceli and I am so happy that she convinced me to train with her.

At the tram on top of Sandia Peak during a run

I have also been reading a lot of great books lately.  I highly recommend them all!  And if you have any to recommend please let me know :).

• Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor
• Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
• Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
• Love Wins by Rob Bell
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Untouchables by Narendra Jadhav

It isn't easy changing who we are as we all get stuck in a rut at times, but right now I am enjoying this process.