Re-evaluation at last

I spent this morning at the Invalides museums seeing Napoleon's tomb (not overly exciting) and walking through the best WWI/WWII museum I have ever witnessed. I especially loved how the French spoke as though the USA was a god amongst gods when we entered both wars and pulled victories away from the Germans. Truly made me proud to be an American :) This evening, our group was taken through a very (very) small section of the Louvre by a wonderful British guide who gave some incredible insight to art history and technique. As everyone in the Louvre does, we visited the big three women (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory) and discussed art significance throughout the millennia. The next few days will be a blur as we finish up the bulk of our class, take an all-day tour through Loire Valley and then overnight ourselves to Barcelona for the weekend so don't expect too much out of me in the coming days.

But the purpose of this blog isn't to go into vivid detail about art or history... It is to discuss my true purpose for coming on this trip: a re-evaluation and definition of my life. Throughout the past few semesters, I have become stagnant in most facets of my life, wandering with some purpose but little passion through the daily routines of class and friends. This trip has already allowed me to take a step away from home and see myself from a new perspective, to get out of my comfort zone and taste a bit of flavor I have so desperately been craving recently.

Today, I finally realized my main problem over the past few years... that I have surrounded myself with the wrong people, relied on the unreliable, and held people to standards they could never live up to. Being with these new guys has let me see what truly loyal friends are like, has satiated my hunger for passionate companions instead of the monotonous friends I have grown accustomed to over the years. This isn't to say *all* of my friends from home fall into that category because that could not be farther from the truth; just a vast majority of those I associate with are not on the same wavelength as me, do not function anywhere near the same as I do. They are not less (or more) for this but I have finally realized that I need friends around me who click a bit better with me.

My hope is that on July 2nd when my plane touches down in Houston and I get back to my American lifestyle, I can keep my knew beginnings in place and make steadfast progress towards keeping this new definition in my life. My prayer is that these new friends stay with me for good and help me grow while keeping me grounded. I also hope everyone from home understands my desires for change and either encourages me in the right directions or quietly steps out of my way! Either way, I think I finally have a tight grip on the next years of my life and nothing is going to hold me back!!