I never thought I would end up in Fredericksburg Virginia; I was going to be gypsy wandering European city to European city in the summers and island hopping across the world in the winters. Yet, here I am, happier than I have ever been in my entire life, because the people and places that have formed together to create my life have changed me and made me into exactly who I am meant to be.
I often think about people and places when traveling internationally, romanticizing over the little encounters with strangers and places you will never see again that still have the ability to significantly impact and change you. Life doesn’t give you the people (or place) you want. It gives you the people (and places) you need: to love you, to hate you, to make you, to break you, and to make you the person you were meant to be.
You are surrounded by an infinite number of positive, life-changing influences right now. The people and places in your day today are there for a reason, but in order to fully benefit from the wealth of wisdom around you, you must open your mind. Open your mind to the fact that everyone has something great to teach you. Grow in your gratitude for the place you have been planted — be it the neighborhood you live in, the office environment where you work, or the gym where you belong. Today, you are exactly where you need to be.