Sixteen

General Public Service Announcement: the last 2 months have been crazy with moving back to Philadelphia and finding a job and getting ready to move to South Carolina so sorry for the lack of blog-age. Whoops.

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Two days ago my friend posted this on my Facebook. It is an interview from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Malala Yousafzai.

*Quick refresher course: Malala Yousafzai is from Swat Valley in Pakistan. She speaks out about the importance of education, particularly for girls. In 2012 she was shot in the head by the Taliban because she spoke out in support of educating girls.

If you haven't done so, you should take the time to watch the interview now. I'll wait.

Kay, great.

As I have been getting ready to move to South Carolina, I have been cleaning out my room at my parents house. Throughout this process I have been blessed with the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane as I have found stuff from high school. When I was listening to Malala, who is 16 years old, I couldn't help but reflect on who I was at 16 and how different 16 year old me was compared to 16 year old Malala.

The year I turned 16 I was just about to finish my sophomore year of high school. I had somewhat successfully gotten through a year at a new school and manged to make some really great friends. I started on a path that directed my spiritual future and I had my first taste of a leadership as a retreat leader. But I was an angry 16 year old. I was confused and hurting and wishing I was someone else (which is probably normal but I don't know what it is like to be around a 16 year old that isn't me or my friends so I'll get back to you). The other day I found the talk I gave at the retreat I helped lead and I couldn't bring myself to read through it. Not because I didn't know what it said but because I like the person I am today better than the person I was at 16 and I like to remember how much I have grown over the last (almost) 10 years instead of being transported back to the thoughts of 16 year old me.

So, as I listened to Malala tonight I couldn't help but be in awe of who she is at 16. I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that at 16 I was concerned about how I may not have that many friends or a social life or a boyfriend. And at 16 Malala is spearheading a dialogue about the importance of educating girls around he globe. At 16 Malala is saying all the things that I believe in at 25; all the things I couldn't even begin to comprehend at 16. Malala Yousafzai is an inspiring young woman who is and will continue to change the world. I can only hope to be as inspiring at 26 as she will be at 17.

The final take away from this is that no matter how old we are, or where we have been, the future is waiting for us. We have the opportunity to grow into amazing people because we were meant for amazing things. We are blessed with the ability to understand where we have been and to walk (or jog or run) the path to where we are going. Whatever our past, we have our future. Keep on doing, inspiring and growing and we will change the world.