I want to be thoroughly used up when I die
-Three Cups of Tea

Last weekend I spent many hours of saturday waiting in the Calgary airport for my connecting flight to Waterloo. First off I love airports. I love the feeling that you get from them. People going places, on new adventures, to new things they don't know and have never seen but people also coming home to things and places they know. Secondly, the time I spent in the airport, was spent reading a really good book called Three cups of Tea. (If you haven't read it you probably should) It is about an American named Greg Mortenson whose mission is to promote peace in Pakistan by building schools for girls. In a time when America was fighting terror and war with bombs, Mortenson was fighting it with books.
First off, the things that Mortenson accomplishes and does as one man striving to make this world a better place, shows me that you really can accomplish anything if you have passion. If I can accomplish half of what he has, my life will be a success and I know that I will have changed lives.
At one point in the book, Mortenson is in Kabul after 9/11, a time when conflict and fighting are at their peak. He is making plans to buy supplies and get them to a site for a new school-a dangerous task at any time but especially at this time of so much conflict. An American reporter named Julie Bergman, who is no stranger to the area and its conflicts offers to go with him. When she steps off the plane she is wearing a necklace that says "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die." This line really got me thinking about my life and how I want to live it. This last year has been a very defining year for me-I essentially figured out who I am, what I stand for, what I want to accomplish, my purpose, goals and dreams, just to name a few. I realized I just want to make a difference and change lives in any way possible. All this comes back to a point that I think this saying excellently sums up, that I want to put everything I have into living my life. I want to put everything I have into living my life for what drives me and what my passions are so that someday when I die I can look back and know that I gave everything I have to give. Life is what we make of it, right? So why sit back on comfortable and settle for a life of things that are familiar when you could reach a little further and have so much more? Why sit back and save yourself and save your energy? What are you saving it for? Why not use it right now, while you can, use it to make a difference, to do something that someday you will be able to look back on and say yes I was thoroughly used up. I hope that in life I am able to give everything I have to what I love and what I am passionate about. I hope that I can be used to change lives and change this world and in doing so, I hope I am thoroughly used up.