I don't even know if I will fully grasp the changes until we get home and see ourselves in familiar mirrors and look at each other in the backdrop of our previous lives. This life feels so far removed from that life and, though it is the same strand of life, the lighting is different. I see things differently here. My perspective has changed on life, on necessities, on Belize, on friendships, on family, on America….not necessarily any particular philosophy but just how my philosophy is illuminated in the light of Belize. It's a spectrum change, or maybe a change in aperture. My eyes have adjusted to see life in this other light.
This change has been gradual...it always is to the one looking back at you in the mirror. For instance, I never realize how old I look until I see myself in pictures. We neglect to notice how much our kids have grown until we line 'em up against their height markers on the wall. My barometer for change is tied to my own perception of today, so answering the question of how Belize has changed us becomes hard, but a few things I know….
- It's harder to leave than we imagined
- We are 100% closer as a family
- We ALL would do this all over again…both the good and the bad (and the kids say they plan to one day with their children…+1 for the parents)
- Our clothes have more holes and stains, but it doesn't stop us from wearing them
- When I get a cold sore or a big zit, I don't get embarrassed to go out…I don't even think about it
- I have stopped apologizing for things like a dirty house or a botched meal
- We feel healthier and more fit
- We have more friends with different world views and many different languages
- We realize we need less…and WANT less
- I know less now about my future than I thought I knew before (I don't actually know less, I just know I know less now)
- For each new place we go, we find out about 10 more places we want to go
- I can spend all day in thought and get nothing done…and don't go to bed feeling guilty
- I am content to not get in a car for weeks on end (we LOVE our bikes)
- We wear our bathing suites 80% of the time…sometimes just because it is cooler than wearing clothes
- I read the Bible with less agenda and more of an open heart
- We watch near zero TV, but I don't know what we do with all of our time
- We cook more at home…together
- We argue less
- I don't use the word "should" as much
- I care less about 80% of the things I worried about before and care more about the 20%
- I now use showers to cool down, not to warm up (getting clean is just a temporary byproduct)
- I am never too busy to get interrupted here
- I know what weevils are and they are just like what they sound like
- by Heidi
