By Melody Schafer http://LivingFreeForever.com
When I was 15 years old I took a trip with my family to Spain to
visit relatives. I found myself on the Rock of Gibraltar resting after a long
walk, having a conversation with a woman in her late 20s who was from an
eastern European country…I don’t remember which. She stopped speaking in the
middle of what I thought was such a lovely time, talking about the beauty that
surrounded us.
She leaned forward and almost in a whisper asked
me what I thought about my president. I thought that was a strange thing to ask
me, being I was just a kid and no one was around to listen. I felt like my
answer would be a secret revealed to her.
Keep in mind this was before the Internet and
cable TV, so unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer for her…other than a blank
stare. She caught me off guard. My biggest worry at the time was making sure I
got all my homework done since we were visiting during the school year and I
was missing school.
I wasn’t really aware of what was going on in
the world and did not understand anything about politics. I consider myself an
easy going person who does not like conflict. I always try to do what I believe
to be good and right. I love people no matter who they are or where they are
from, unless of course they are trying to physically hurt me. I always
considered myself to be an open-minded and accepting individual.
I did not realize some people outside the United
States thought the President of The United States of America represented the
thoughts of all people in my country and that whatever policies were in place
or whatever the government was doing, represented all people here in the United
States.
So I was honest and told her I did not know
what I thought about the president. He was not even a thought to me at that
age. She asked more questions and was shocked by my answers and told me she
apologized for thinking ill of all Americans. She thought all Americans thought
the same way. I don’t even remember what the questions were after all these
years, but that conversation made a HUGE impact on that woman and on myself. I believe she learned not to judge a group of
people by one person in that group and I learned that there was a world of
people out there who had different opinions other than my own.
Later that week, we took a ferry across the Mediterranean
Sea to visit Morocco for the day. On that boat ride, I met several young people
from different countries. Thankfully, we were able to communicate using
English, Spanish and some hand gestures trying to explain what we were trying
to say. It appeared we all had preconceived notions what people from the other
country were like. We all learned that we could all get along, even if the
leaders of our countries did not. We were not each other’s enemies. We had a
wonderful time together and learned a bit about each other.
This is when I really understood the power of
travel and how important it can be in an education beyond books. Meeting people
in person, face to face, can change your life and how you perceive it. A total
stranger can be the catalyst of something you do in the future that may be the
most important thing you do in your life. You just never know.
We meet people in our lives who are in it for a short time or for
a long time. Sometimes the experiences we have with the people we meet
can be good and sometimes not so good. Either way, we learn from our experience
with these people.
Everything
and everyone in our lives happens for a reason. We may not always know what
that reason is, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is we can grow and
change for the better because of the people we meet.
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