I just learned another reason why I want to go to Africa

So I'm sitting here reading Loving Each Other by Leo, and I'm learning a lot. He is talking about happiness, and how the happiest people are those who would still be happy if you took everything away from them, because they are just happy about life. And that's something I want to experience. If I know that my happiness is inside me, and can come from nothing else but myself, then that has a HUGE impact on my life. That can allow me to be more sure of my own stability, and thus allow me to take more healthy risks, to be more confident in myself, and to share my happiness with others even more.

This is another reason why I want to go to Africa. I want to see if I can be happy with nothing. If I can not have many of the material things that I am use to, yet still be content with life. I think this is a good thing. I also don't think that I need to go to Africa to do it. I just need a good amount of time away from average American society and the technology in my life. A week or two.

On a semi opposite, and possibly contradictory note, I'm changing. NO SHIT! WE ALL ARE ALWAYS CHANGING! But I'm understanding a way how, and that's always exciting! I'm becoming more interested in American society, and in focus the good things about it. I think this is coming from American Philosophy, and I think that I need to remember, explore, and learn about all the great things that this country has, and is made up of. There is a history here, and there are good things. I want to learn more about them all. I want to know of the good things happening. I wanted to have enough knowledge that will allow me to say and mean the statement "I am proud to be American."

Random thoughts. If you're reading this, I hope you can take something from this. Commercials tell us we aren't happy without products numerous times everyday. Fact: we can only hear something so much until we start to believe it.
Here's the counterpart to that: You don't need any sort of materialistic possession to be happy. You don't have to look like someone on TV to be considered attractive. You don't have to allow sexual desire to impact your decisions. You WILL be okay. You just need yourself. I believe that it's okay to trust yourself, and I encourage you to. You are amazing. You are awesome. I want to write a dictionary just for you and put your picture next to every positive word in there. Not only are you going to change the world, but you're doing so right now. You are powerful, and that doesn't have to be scary. It's okay to be happy. It's okay to love. (I wonder if these things don't come from putting effort into them, but simply not allowing things to influence you otherwise). It's okay to be you. Please be you. Maybe that's the only thing you're meant to do in this life.

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