Mahatma Gandhi once said “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

There is a time for friends and family, a time to surround yourself with people who lift you up. But there’s also a time for yourself, a time for you to get lost in your own thoughts and enjoy your own company. I lost sight of this just-as-important second allotment of time these past couple of weeks. In the past couple of months, I talked a lot of how much my sister has taught me about slowing down and reflecting. I’ve definitely made progress. I’ve definitely slowed down and become more in tune with myself. But in these past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed myself gravitating back towards my old ways so this post is actually a good point in time for me to check back in with myself and become in tune with myself again. A time for me to reflect on how far I’ve come but also to reflect on how much farther I am capable of going. Just think, I learned so much about myself and the world around me in less than a year…think of all that there is to keep learning for the next 60 years!

I recently watched a TED talk by Susan Cain called “The Power of Introverts.” Susan Cain starts off with a story about her at camp as a child. All her life growing up, vacationing with her family meant reading. They would travel somewhere and spend a majority of the time enjoying each other’s company but also getting lost in the stories of each of their books. She and her family would sit around in each others’ presence, but all in their own worlds. The worlds created by the nooks and crannies of their books. That’s what she always thought a vacation was. When she went to summer camp for the first time, naturally she packed her suitcase full of books thinking this was going to be like any other vacation she’s been on. When she got there though she found out how “abnormal” it was. Her counselor actually even told her that she should put the books away and not be so anti-social. Our society is so geared towards extraverts. The way our school systems are set up even at a young age. The tables are set up in a circle where 8 children face each other and are constantly interacting with each other. When a child wants to play by themselves, they are encouraged not to and instead “be a part of the team.” They are noted down with comments such as “does not work well in teams” and “needs to learn to share”. And when parent-teach meetings come around, that’s what is brought. Not the fact that they are independent and introverted. But there’s something so powerful about spending time alone especially for people who are introverts. It’s something that comes naturally to introverts but it can do so much good for extroverts.

I am naturally an extrovert but having been on that extreme for most of my life and recently realizing the beauty of alone time, this TED talk really resonated with me. The thoughts and outputs of introverts when they are alone are just as important and impactful as those of extroverts when they are in a group setting. This TED talk really had me reflecting on a lot of different aspects of our society. Interviewing for a job, for example. I have never really been nervous for interviews. I’ll admit it, I sometimes don’t prepare as much as I should but here’s why. Naturally as an extrovert, I am able to convey my ideas in a charismatic manner and able to get along really well with strangers. But reflecting on this, there have been many instances where I’m not the most qualified person for the position and really I didn’t even portray my ability to perform successfully in the role during the interview. Our society is so geared towards extroverts in this sense that I am given opportunities not based on merit but merely on the fact that I am an extrovert. It’s not the interviewer’s fault for being biased. We’ve just grown up in a society that favors extroverts over introverts when in reality there is so much power to introverts. Their brains are wildly fascinating. My sister is more in tune with herself and her surroundings than any extrovert that I know and extroverts thrive on their surroundings! She understands how she fits in to her surroundings and even determines how she is going to fit in. She understands herself well and this translates into these incredible works, thoughts, and conversations.

So here are the goals I’ve laid out for myself: (1) to recognize the beauty of my introverted friends and all that they offer and (2) to spend some time racking my own brain and slowing down even more. There have been movies in the past such as Limitless where the viewer is told that we don’t use 100% of our brains. Then the main character takes this drug that lets him access 100% of his brain and the story just takes off from there. If I remember correct, he ends up getting himself in trouble because of that but that’s neither here nor there. My point is that whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, our brains are incredible. The way that we for thoughts, the way we interpret the world different, the way we approach different situations, and the way we collect memories through our senses is fascinating.

These past 2 months, I’ve travelled for a month with my dad and my brother as well as started the accelerated semester here at ICADE so I’ve been constantly on the move for a bit now. I am by no means blaming these things for my lack of alone time because there are countless opportunities for that. I think I just got a little bit lost these past couple of weeks and got out of sync with myself. So going back to Gandhi’s quote: “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.” We have the power to decide what we want to do every day, what we want to think about, and how the outcome of the day will turn out. I’ve been on autopilot for too long now and I need to get back in control of my thoughts and my actions.

I am so incredibly blessed to have grown up with the opportunities that I have had. The opportunities to go to an incredible university, be a part of sports teams, travel the world, but most of all, the opportunity to focus on causes that I care about such as sustainability where as in many parts of the world (and even in towns 20 minutes away from my hometown) where the people are solely focused on how they are going to get dinner on the table that night. The opportunities to surround myself with introverts and extroverts. To explore my dreams without anything holding me back.

My parents have given me the world. They have given me the opportunity to use my brain to reflect on my actions rather than having to focus on filling my stomach. So many people take this privilege for granted. I sure did growing up. But now it’s my turn to make the most of it and benefit people beyond myself. I’m not sure where in the world I’ll end up (it doesn’t really matter to me). All I know is that I want to change the world, if it’s only impact 1 life or 1 million lives. And if I ever lose sight of this 10, 20, 30 years down the road, I’m going to look back on this blog post and remind myself of all the opportunities I was given growing up but even more so, all the opportunities I have now to make a difference in the world.

Adventure is out there!