Peru 18 Words of Wisdom

During our Swearing in Ceremony, each health volunteer wrote down a little "words of wisdom" on a piece of paper.  It was a lot of pressure, because we all knew that we were all about to go off to different parts of Perú, and this might be our last day together.  Words of wisdom for an insane experience none of us could really be prepared for was also just hard.  I choked, and my words of wisdom were sort of lame, but it was all I could come up with.  We then stood in a circle, each person took someone else's little paper from a bag, and we read them aloud and then guessed who wrote it.  Some were obvious, some were ambiguous, but it was fun, and sort of campy, but Peace Corps has to be a little campy.  

At the end, I collected all the slips of paper, and typed them up for everyone.  I'm going to paste them below for you all to enjoy.  Some of them are attributed to the actual author of the quote because some people quoted other people, some are things people said on their own, and some are quotes from other people but attributed here to the volunteer who said it.  It was a bit all over the place.

“If there is any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” – William Penn

“Remember to laugh often & much!” – Monica

“Make time for what makes you happy, and everything else will be so much better.” –Allison Clune

“Reach for the moon but don’t fret when you land among the stars.” – John

“If you feel down, either google skits with Kristen Wiig or turn off your light and touch yourself.” –Ty Manning

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined.”

“Things will change, things will go your way, if you hold on for one more day.” – Hayden

“When you think you have it really bad, just be glad that you haven’t shit your favorite yoga pants and smart wool socks.” – Katie Murray

“If you are feeling down, CALL SOMEONE. Laugh. Run Naked often!” –KCM

“Do whatever it takes! Life is a marathon…keep running.”

“Life is too short to stress.  If you have the power to change it, change it.  If you don’t, what use is worrying?       Drink rum.”  - Andrew Carter

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters in comparison to what lies within us.”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Training ahs been our foundation and despite our differences, Peru 18 health is a family.  The challenges we will get through together and 2 years from now we will celebrate all our successes.” – Christine

“Celebrate every success…even the small ones.” – Diamond

“Guided by heart, and driven by hope.” – Matt

“Laugh often, smile always, and when times are rough keep in mind that you’re a damn good person and you have people who believe in you!” –Jade

“1. Approach everything with an open mind.

  2. Put your heart and soul into your experience here.

  3.  No matter what your experience in Perú turns out to be, when you go back to the US as a PCV, everyone will think you are amazing (and you are).” – Katie H.

“If you’re feeling down, just smile.  If may confuse people, it may make them suspicious of why you’re smiling or you may befriend someone because of it.  It’ll make you feel better.” – Lauralee

“In whatever you do. BE BOLD.”

“Remember in the hard times that there are always people that love you and will listen to your stories.” – Elizabeth

“At least you are not sitting in a room, staring blankly at a powerpoint…” – Kelsey

“True Fact: Rhinos can’t walk backwards.  So remember, stay strong and keep it moving (forward).” – Ashley

“The sun’s always rising in the sky somewhere.” – Sonnet

“Breath. Close your eyes, inhale deeply.  Exhale deeply and remember you are loved.” – Claire

“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.  You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no double the universe is unfolding as it should.” – Sylvia  (This is from one of my favorite poems that my mom introduced me to, that I introduced to Sylvia during training and she loved it as much as I did.  I'll post up that poem sometime soon.)

“Never regret anything because at one time it was exactly what you wanted.” – Christina

“Don’t forget to act silly, play games, and dance with your host family.” – Kate B.

“The next 2 years we will face challenges, successes and no matter what we are facing remember you’re not alone.  If you feel alone call me and I can start stalking you.” – Jennifer

The next couple are ones I had saved that I wrote up and stuck on my wall.  The first has been a kind of a motto to keep me going when things are really frustrating or difficult or challenging or uncomfortable.  

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled.  For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”

“The world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage of timidity, the appetite for adventure of the life of ease.” – JFK

“Promise me you will always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

“Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.”