with all life's curves and twists

Nearly a decade of serving in the Peace Corps has come to a close. This newsletter will attempt to tie those experiences together on how they have impacted my life. I'll conclude with an update on my current life. If there's one takeaway I got from all my experiences, it's that attitude, my attitude, was what left the deepest impression on people. As a life-experienced volunteer (LEV), I was not bright-eyed in thinking I was going to change the world. All I could do was to make a sincere effort in the spirit of volunteerism to pursue the Peace Corps mission of helping those I worked with improve their lives and skills, share American culture with my hosts, and share my host culture with Americans. I tried to keep a positive attitude when interacting with my hosts, and to my surprise, toward the end of my service in host countries found that this attitude had been noticed more than anything else I had shared or done. Did I have bad days? You better believe it. But it was my responsibility to pull myself back up. I've also come to the decision that I will no longer waste time interacting with people who have negative attitudes. This is different than having problems and difficulties in life. Most of us do have difficulties; however, I will limit the time I spend with those who consistently view the world through a lens of their lives, problems and misfortunes being the result of external factors. Note the word consistently. No, my lens is not rose-colored. However, I will continue to search for the positives in life -- that decision was made long before the pandemic came to dominate our lives.

Philippines(2010-2013):
A Sense of Community and Positiveness