Soul Print: Discovering Your Divine Destiny-Scene 1

Scene 1: Holy Confidence
"If you learn the lesson God is trying to teach you, no matter how
things turn out, you have not failed. In fact, you cannot fail" (page
22). When I first read this, one of my first thoughts was how do you
know what lesson God is trying to teach you? This is one thing I
always think about and ask myself. I hear people saying "follow God's
will", "do what God asks you to do", etc. and I agree with that, we
should listen and obey God. But how do you know what He is telling
you? How do you know? I guess it's why I do not really like to say for
sure that this is "God's will" for me or that "God wants me to do
this…" because I just do not know. And also, it seems a
little…egotistic for lack of a better word to say I know what God is
thinking or what His plans are. But setting all that side, how am I
supposed to know what lesson God is trying to teach me? I wish someone
could tell me that. It's not like God speaks in a audible voice right?
How do you know the difference between what God is telling you and
what you think He is telling you? Another thing that just came to my
mind is this says learning God's lesson for you is the top thing. If
you learn that, if you achieve that, then you have not failed. Even if
you did not accomplish your goal, you still have not failed. Our
society is so driven by winning and achievieving this or accomplishing
that, that we often feel if we don't accomplish our goal, then we have
failed. For example, I have always been hesitant about asking people
for help. Coming here to China, I've had to get over that to a certain
extent. I ask my friends Lina, Gina or Raibo for help all the time.
Actually, a lot of the time. Maybe Gods lesson, or one of them, is
for me to lean that. To learn to ask people for help, and not just
until I have no other choice and am desperate. If that is God's lesson
for my time in China, then by learning it, have not failed. Sure, I
have not baptized anyone or given lots of bible studies or anything.
Doesn't mean I have failed.
"One key to fulfilling your destiny is recognizing what season you are
in" (page 24). The author in this chapter talks about seasons in our
lives, and how in order to fulfill your divine destiny, you have to
recognize what season you are in. if you don't, the author says, you
will experience frustration and maybe even anger and despair. I have
heard something similar to this all the time at ACU. Usually, about
singleness. The season of singleness. I have come to believe that for
me, it's not a season but a lifetime, but I do agree with the author
and I think he makes a good point here. Understanding what season you
are in is important. Maybe you are in a season where you are supposed
to wait. Maybe you are in a season where you are learning to be
confident in yourself and to ask people for help. If you recognize
that, then you won't experience as much frustration. "One of the
biggest mistakes we make is focusing all our energy on the next season
of life instead of enjoying the season we're in" (page 24). This is SO
true! We spend so much time focusing on the future, on what is coming,
that we tend to ignore the present. That is something that I always
struggle with. I am a planner; I like to have a plan. My plan can
change, I am flexible like that, but I have to have my plan. As a
planner, I think about things that are coming, that I have to do, and
I make a plan as to how to do them, what I have to do, etc. Of
course, this leads to the problem of I am always focusing on what is
to come, what is next, on future. Right now, I am in China, and I am
going home next month, and I have to do a lot of planning for that and
I have to save money for furniture and books and my trip to Chicago.
So I am trying to balance being here and planning for going home. I am
saving as much money as I can, but at the same time I am trying to not
give up traveling or eating at a restaurant that is price-y, simply to
save money. And I think that is what the author is saying. When we
are single, we long to be married. When we are married, we long to
have children…when we are high school students we long to go to
college, when we get to college we long for grad school, when we are
in grad school, we long for a doctorate, etc. we always look to the
season that is ahead. I want to change that. I want to start enjoying
and living in the season I am in, yet always think about the season
that is coming.
"Your current frustration will be cause for future celebration if you
hang in there long enough" (page 25). This caught my eye because it is
something that I think to myself every once in a while, especially
since I've been in China. Sometimes, it is worth it for things to go
wrong because when they are finally fixed, you appreciate it so much
more. I did not have hot water in my apartment for the first month or
so that I was in China. It was miserable and frustrating and
worrisome. Yet when they finally fixed it-around October- it was so
great! I was so excited and so relieved and even now, every time I
take a nice hot shower, and I feel lucky and so glad to have hot
water. So it almost makes it worth it because I appreciate it so much
more.
"We so quickly forget the central fact of our faith: without a
crucifixion there is no resurrection"(page 26). In this section, the
author talks about divine delays. Sometimes what seems to us to be a
disadvantage, a disappointment, is really a divine delay. God has
something planned for us, but not yet, or maybe He has to stop a plan
or a dream of ours in order to give is His plan, His dream. What I
liked about this quote is that it is saying that in order for the
resurrection to have happened, Jesus needed to have died by
crucifixion. Before dawn, there is darkness. Sometimes, in order for
something good and beautiful to happen, something sad and painful has
to happen first.
What I got out of this book so far is how our disadvantages can be
advantages. I am doing an exercise based on this idea. I made a
chapter and I wrote on one column all my disadvantages, weaknesses,
etc. and on the other column I wrote the good that came out of it. I
also have made a second chart, with the same idea but instead of
disadvantages I listed decisions I made on a whim. It's not really
hard, but it does take some thought, and there are still a few
disadvantages that I cannot think of what good has come out of them.
still, I like this exercise and it makes me feel…good. Sort of like a
few puzzle pieces of the puzzle that is me have come together you
know?

Soul Print: Discovering your Divine Destiny-Opening

Soul Print: Discovering your Divine Destiny

             by Mark Batterson

 

              "You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn't a virtue. It's a responsibility" (page 9). This jumped out at me in the first part of this book. We have all heard a thousand times that we are unique, that we are special in our own way, etc. it's such a common thing for us to hear it is almost a cliché. Yet I feel as if this is a unique point being made here. Ok, we know we are unique, we are special. No one else on earth is like us. But what we have not heard is that it's a responsibility. Like when you get your license. It's great and exciting, yet it is also a responsibility, a responsibility to take care of the car we are driving, of the people in the car, and to be careful drivers in general.  As Christians, we believe God created us. So if God created us, then our uniqueness, who we are, etc, as this book says, it's a responsibility on us to live up to that, to be the unique person we were meant to be.  We hear that "you are beautiful your own way; everyone is beautiful in their own way." We hear this said all the time. again, it is almost a cliché. Yet maybe it is not true. After all, I am sure that if you look long enough, you can find someone that looks similar to me. you can find someone that is beautiful in the same way, because of the same features, etc. as me. maybe though, that does not matter. Maybe our uniqueness, that uniqueness which no one else has or will ever have or has ever had, is our soul. Not our personality. After all, there are people who have a personality similar to yours, just like there are people who have the same kind of beauty as you. Maybe our true uniqueness is from our soul. Our soul print. And that is what this book is talking about.  But back to the responsibility. God created you, He created me, etc. and that means our soul, is a unique custom made one of a kind soul. Not your looks, not your personality, but your soul. The soul God created, and whom He set about specific mission(s) to accomplish on Earth. And because of that, it would be a shame and a letting down of God and disrespect, for us to ignore our custom made souls, and instead be a carbon copy of society, of someone else. Would you rather be a custom made soul by God, or would you rather be a carbon copy of someone else?

"You were created to worship God in a way that no one else can. How? By living a life no one else can-your life" (page 9).  I did not grow up going to church. At all. Not even on Christmas or Easter. So even though I've been going to church since sophomore year of college and have been  a Christian since  Sophomore year of college, in a lot of ways this church going thing is still new to me. and when I think of worship, I think of church. So this line really got my attention. The idea it suggests: that worship to God is your life, the way you live. Not the singing, the sermons, the Sunday church ritual, etc. maybe that is what we think of worship to be. Maybe it's a small part of worship, and we have turned it into the whole thing. What if your life is the worship? The theme of this book is finding your soul print, the person God created you to be, from the beginning when He created you.  If we find our soul print, then we can become the unique, custom made soul which God created, and it follows that are live will be as unique the too, since no one else has our soul print and never will and never did. So if we think of worship as being the life we live, then we each have our own unique way to worship God, according to our soul print and the life our soul print leads us to live. Think of that! that makes me kind of excited. the idea that I can workship God in a way no one else has ever has before and never will, and I can do this by being the person He created me to be, by finding and living my soul print.

"It's never too late to be who you might have been"(page 10). I really like this sentence. In our society, a lot of things are easily missed due to the pace of our modern lifestyle. And due to this same past faced lifestyle, we often feel it is too late for a lot of things. it is too late to go to grad school, you already have a successful career. It is too late to get married. It is too late to tell the girl you liked that you liked her. you get the idea. Yet, this sentence reminds me that being who I was meant to me, changing into that person, into that girl, changing my life to be the life it was meant to be…it is never too late for that.

"If you haven't discovered your unique gifts and passions, how can you find fulfillment in what you do? You might make a living, but you won't make a life" (page 10).  I do not have much to say about why I like this. It's pretty self-explanatory what it is saying and why I like it. I like it because it talks about making a living and making a life as two different things. We often think of them as the same thing.

"we are, most of us, much of the time, in disguise. We present ourselves as we think we are meant to be"(page 11).  " and the primary reason we live as strangers to ourselves is because we're afraid of what we'll find if we start digging. We don't really want to see ourselves for who we are. But if we can dig deeper than our fallen natures, we'll find the truth that lies buried beneath our sin: the image of God. we'll find our true identities  and our true destinies as well"(page 11).   These are two separate quotes as you can tell. I really liked what he is saying here. When we think of not being true ourselves, our culture oftentimes blames…itself. I say that because we blame society, our culture, the media, celebrities, etc. but what if we are to blame for not being ourselves? What if the main reason we are afraid to find out and/or be who we really are is us. Me. you.  We stop ourselves from it because we are afraid to discover that who we really are could be someone we don't want to be. For example, I would be so…no happy if part of who God created me to be, my soul print, was to live among poor people in the slums of India. So it's easier to go with who we think we are supposed to be, or who people think we are. It takes courage and dedication to find our true identities, our soul print. But maybe the first step is stopping ourselves from stopping us from being who we are. The idea that I am in disguise is not a happy one for one. In January, I found out something about one of my friends, concerning…his lifestyle, for lack of a better phrase. Something about him. And even now, in May, I still find myself feeling like….like I was lied to in a way. Like this whole time he was…wearing a mask. A mask similar to who he really is, but with a critical piece left out. I find myself wondering if I ever really knew him, or what else he could be hiding. I know that it's not true, that he is who ive known him to be, but still, the feelings remain, and to be honest, a little bit of the trust is gone. i feel as if I will always wonder what else he could be hiding. I don't want to feel that way about mysef. Not being able to trust myself to be who I really am, to feel as if I am wearing a disguise, as mask. Masks are fun to wear on Halloween, as are disguises. But they are hard to wear every single day, all day.

The following are quotes  I really liked. Nothing much to say about them, so I'll just list them:

1.       "time may be measured in minutes, but life is measured in moments"(page 11).

2.       "you never know which moment might become a defining moment"(page 11).

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller,Chapters 1-5

I am on the "sexy carrots" chapter, and my impression of this book so far is that he has good thoughts, but at the same time the book is a little...disorganized. Maybe not disorganized, but there is no…unity between the chapters. It seems as if it a bunch of good essays thrown together into a collection. I think that's it: it seems to me to be more of a collection of Donald Miller's essays rather than a book. There is no thread linking them all together. However, he does write some good thoughts and he makes good points.

Author's note

"Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way" (Blue Like Jazz, page 10). I really liked this idea. I think that is so very true! I have seen it in many different ways, but one way has been in traveling. Before I went on my Southeast Asia trip, I emailed my friend Anne, who's been to Thailand, and I asked her some advice about what we should do, where to go etc. she responded back, and just reading her email and the obvious enthusiasm she had about Thailand, made me so excited and so ready to go there. Last Saturday, my friend Lina and I were having lunch in the cafeteria of North Campus of Harbin University of Commerce in Harbin, China and we were talking about my trip to Xi'an next month. She went there as a tour guide during the winter holiday, and so she was talking to me about it. she actually got to meet one of the two (the other passed away) men who discovered the Terracotta Soldiers! Hearing her talk about her trip and about the soldiers, made me even more excited to go and experience it as well. I think that is something like what Donald Miller is talking about here. Sometimes, someone's passion and/or enthusiasm for something is what kindles your own passion for it. at the very least it makes you want to go experience it and/or check it out to see what the big deal is.

Chapter 2

"if you don't love somebody, it gets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel (Blue Like Jazz, page 21). I have to say that I do not necessarily agree with this. Myself personally, even when I love someone, I do not like it when tell me what to feel. That is mostly what gets me, when they tell me that what I am feeling is wrong and instead I should feel "this" way. Of course they do not say it in those words, and I am sure that they are watching out me as their friend. Still, it's one thing for people to tell you that they do not agree with you or think that you are not right, but it's another for them to tell you how you should be feeling instead. For example, one of the things that I am…working through is divorce. I know how Christians feel about divorce, I know why they/we believe it is wrong, and for the most part, I agree. However, the one hinge, the one thing that keeps me from sharing their belief in this point,is that…I just cannot see why someone who does not want to be married to someone anymore, someone who is no longer happy in their marriage or no longer is in love with their spouse, should stay in that marriage when they are no longer happy in it. well, I know why, marriage is a vow, in front of God, for forever, but…I just cannot seem to believe that someone should stay married when they do not want to. I have talked about this with my friends, and while they have not agreed with me, they have not told me that what I am feeling is wrong, that I am feeling the wrong thing and should instead feel this other way. They make it clear they do not agree with me, but they do not tell me how I should feel instead. So for me personally, whether I love the person or not, it does annoy me when people tell me how to feel. So on this point, I do not agree with Miller.

"he said that when we are watching television our minds are working no harder than when we are sleeping" (Blue Like Jazz, page 23). Actually, that is not necessarily true. When you are sleeping, your brain is still working; it is "awake." It's kind of like a night shift at a hospital.  The hospital is not closed or anything, it's just the night shift running things instead of the day shift.

Chapter 3

"and, perhaps, I was judging the idea, not by its merit, but by the fashionable or un fashionable delivery of the message" (Blue Like Jazz, page 36).  I really think this is something that in our society today, we do a lot. at my church, Southern Hills, they use a lot of video clips, power points, etc. during the sermon, and I like it, it is creative and helps make the point and it is a good supplement to the sermon. Still, when sermons or speeches do not have nice powerpoints or visuals, or even supplemental sounds, music, etc., people do not tend to get as into it. in my classes in China, my students tend to pay attention when my lesson includes pictures or powerpoints rather than just me talking, and writing stuff on the board.  And when someone is giving a powerful sermon, and they do in what I call the "yelling" style, all of a sudden people get into it; they are moved by it, etc. oh, and of course, the "fashionable" Spiritual Story has to have a low moment of course. it seems as if the most "powerful" Spiritual Stories, the ones people are asked to share, to speak on, etc. are the ones where people overcome something, where people have low moments, dramatic events. No one ever gets up there and shares a spiritual story where they became a Christian; they have a good relationship with God. Not perfect, a few struggles, but good overall. How come those of us with those types of stories are never asked to speak? Because our stories would not be "fashionable." That is what I got from this quote. Sometimes, we depend too much on the dramatic, on the cool video clips, or the forceful yelling in the sermon, or the low moments in the Story. Shouldn't it be about more than that in order for it to be good?

"the decision was simple once I asked myself, is Jesus the Son of God, are we being held captive in a world run by Satan, a world filled with brokenness, and do I believe Jesus can rescue me from this condition?(Blue Like Jazz, page 37)" this is indeed simple. when we look at it in these simple statements, it becomes so much easier. And it takes away all the differences that divides us, that creates different denominations, different "camps." This is what it should be about, this is what the main focus should be on instead of what the bible says about Marriage, about Tattoos, about Homosexuality, about instruments in the service, etc. because I have a feeling that when we are judged in Heaven, on THAT day, I don't think God will be asking you about these things.

Chapter 5

"there are things you choose to believe and beliefs that choose you" (Blue Like Jazz, page 53). I totally agree with this. This is basically my being a Member of the Family in a sentence. It's almost like it chose me, like God just…gave me love for Him, and belief in Him.

The Nook

I thought that it would be interesting to write a post about my thoughts on my Nook. well, interesting for me anyway. at first, I will admit that I was not into the "E-reader" phenomenon. I am a huge bookworm; I love reading, but I also love books themselves. I think that you can love reading, and not neccesarily love the concept of a book in general if that makes sense. I love having a book in my hands, holding it. I love turning the pages, I love stroking the page as I am reading it, that beautiful sound it makes when I do that. I love the smell of books: the new book smell, the old book smell. I love stroking the cover of a book as I hold it in my lap. I love the feeling of knowing that I am holding a story, another world, in my hands. you do not get that with E-readers. however, in the end I decided to get a Kindle. it did feel like I was going over to the other side, but I loved it. it was nice because I would do Weekend Campaigns, and I would fly during Christmas to go see my parents, so it was nice not having to carry lots of books with me when I went on those trips, especially during SBCs. also, I found it nice because I could put books on it that I knew I would not read over and over again. I still prefered books, but it was nice being able to get the classics for free, and a lot of "complete works of..." collections for free or for less than a dollar. however, my Kindle kept breaking, the screen would half freeze, and I would have to keep sending it bacl for a free replacement. it happened when I first got to China, and that took weeks for a replacement, because they sent it to my parents because they could not sent it to China, and my parents sent it to me. eventually I got it, but during my trip to Southeast Asia, it broken again and so that was the last straw. same problem, about 4 times! I decided to get a Nook instead, from Barnes and Nobles. I was worried since my Kindle was 3G, and the Nook was only Wifi, but in the end, I decided I could just use the USB to download the books to it, and Aubrey, one of the teachers I was traveling with, had a Nook and she said it had not really mattered to her that it was not 3G, she just used the USB. so, I went for it. from our hostel in Vietnam(after emailing my parents and asking if they would mind buying me a Nook)I ordered my Nook. the Simple Touch Nook, is only $99, so it was not too expensive. I bought a case for it, and a Power Outlet for it, and a screen protector kit. all in all, less than buying a Kindle, at least the $180 Kindle. they could not ship it to China, so I shipped it to my parents, and my parents shipped it to me when I got back to Haerbin a month later, so I had to wait a good  month and a half for my Nook.

   My thoughts on the Nook are that I LOVE it! I actually prefer it to the Kindle(when I say this, I am talking about the version of the Kindle that I had. I hold judgement on the new versions of the Kindle all throughout this post). It was a little frustrating when I was setting it up, because you needed Wifi to set it up, but the teachers downstairs have wifi, so I used theirs. so that is what I use when I want to download the Nook Books I buy online on my laptop to my Nook, so it had turned out pretty well, and in the USA, finding wifi is not a problem. I love my Nook. It is smaller than the Kindle, and thinner, so it does not feel like it takes up as much room, and the kindle is pretty light so that is saying something. the kindle I had also had a keyboard, and the Nook does not, so that helps me to feel like I am reading a book. I also think that the Nook is more organized than the Kindle. on the Home page for the Nook, it shows me which book I was last reading, and what page I am on, along with the total number of pages in the book. it also lists the last 3-4 books that I bought, and it also gives Barnes and Nobles recommendation based on the books I've bought. in the Library, instead of a list like on the Kindle, it shows the cover of the book(I also have the option of putting it as a list). which is another thing I love. I think that the Nook does a better job of giving you the actual cover picture of the book, unlike the kindle which just gave you the kindle version of the cover, which was the name of the book and the author. I love having the actual cover picture of the book, and I love having the library be the cover pictures. also, if you wanted to make group of books, a collection, it has its own section for that(shelves) and it does not show up on the Library, unlike the Kindle where when you make a collection of books, it shows up in the library. same with magazines. the magazines still show up in the library, but you can go to the Newsstand section and see them there as well. it's a lot more organized than the Kindle, at least the version of the Kindle I had. some things I do not like about it is that because it is a Touch, it's easy to accidently turn the page when you are reading, and highlighting is a little difficult, but i am getting the hang of it. other than that, I love my Nook and I definetly think it an improvement over the Kindle I had.

   I do still love my books, and I have bought some at the bookstore in Center Street in Haerbin where they sell English books, and I have bought several of those. I think that aside from my DVDs, my books will be my heaviest things I'll bring back, at least as a whole. I love e-reader, because I can buy books at a less and see if I like them, and if I do, then I can make the choice to buy the actual book. and my Nook is super good! I truly love it!

Oliver Twist, Chapter 1

"what an excellent example of the power of dress, young Oliver Twist was! Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar;…but now that he was enveloped in the old calico robes which had grown yellow in the same service, he was badged  and ticketed, and fell into his place at once-a parish child-the orphan of a workhouse-the humble,  half-starved drudge- to be cuffed and buffeted through the world-despised by all, and pitied by none." (chapter 1, page 5).

     I found this quote interesting. How, before he had clothes on, Oliver Twist was not defined into any one category. You could not tell to which category, to which class, he belonged to. As Dickens points out, he could have been the son of a rich man, or the son of a poor man. then, as soon as they put clothes on him, he was categorized. He belonged to a certain category, to a certain group. Clothes are a thing of the world, earthy thing, created by man, and we do judge people, put them in certain groups sometimes by their clothes. Fashionable…not fashionable…rich…not rich…simple…girly…sporty….I'm not saying that everyone does, but as a whole we do. You look at someone dressed sloppily, and you assume they are a slob, that they are messy. It's why we dress nicely and professionally at job interviews, or at important events. Coz the world judges us by how we dress, even if it does not like to always admit it does.  It's different than what Dickens is talking about here, but at the same time it is the same. We might not category into classes like in the quote, but we assume that things sometimes when we see how someone is dressed.  Oliver Twist when he did not anything of the world on him, but just what God created, could have been anyone. He was the same as all people. as soon as things of the world where added to him, then he was marked not being the same as certain type of people(upper class, rich, etc). I really found this interesting. If we took away all the things that of the world that we have created, "we" being man, and only took into account those things God created and gave, then we would all be the same. What makes us all  "separate" from others, is things that we ourselves have created.

In Search of Lost Time

my first book that I am reading from the Guardian's top 100 list, in what I am calling my "25th bday challenge" is In Search for Lost Time by Marcel Proust. I am excited to start this self created and imposed challenge, yet I am also nervous. this is book#41, and I picked it because it sounded interesting from the one sentence descrition in the list, and becase the longest book on the list mention made me curious. I looked it up and have read a bit about it, the book itself, and it is 3,000 something pages long! the book is so long, that it is written in 6 -7 volumes! when I say volumes, I don't mean like Happy Potter, where it is a series,etc. no. I mean this is one book, that is so long, it took 7 books to finish it in! it is supposed to have one of the longest sentences in literature, and it has about 1.5 million words! It is also supposed to be a bit difficult to read, and to comprehend. so, I will admit...I'm intimidated right now, a bit nervous as well. really. I'm actually intimidated and a bit nervous. over a book, I know. yet, I am also super excited about this and I love this idea that I had! It seems that a lot of people say that as hard as this book is to read and comprehend, it is super good and super worth it, so that makes me excited to read it. plus, I have not read a lot of books(okay, none) by French writers, so it's a new for me. so, here I go...

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verde

I loved this book! Early on, towards the beginning of the tour, I
thought about how Mr.Fogg was doing this world tour in 80 days, he was
traveling to all of these countries, all of these cities and places,
and yet he did not really care about seeing them. he would stay in his
quarters, only going out to get his passport visa-ed, and/or to go to
the next train or steamer, etc. I love traveling, so the idea of not
really caring or wanting to see those places, was beyond me. it says
"But phileas fogg, who was not travelling, but only describing a
circumference, took no pains to inquire into these subjects; he was a
solid body, traversing an orbit around the terrestrial globe,
according to the laws of rational mechanics". –chapter 11 of Around
the World in 80 Days. I thought it interesting that Mr.Fogg had the
money and the means to do this tour, but did not care about the
sights, but passpartout, his servant, was just the servant, just the
tag along, and he seemed more into the places and seeing them than
Mr.Fogg.
Throughout this book, as the story and the world tour continues,
you find yourself, just like passpartout, getting more and more into
the story and feeling almost invested in wanting Mr.Fogg to win his
waiger. I also loved that Mr.Fogg never hesitates to save someone in
his party, never mind the consequences. He never shows a lot of
emotion, good or bad, but you can still see that he is a man of honor
and duty and loyalty I think.
The ending is SO cool!!!! I loved it! I NEVER thought of it, that
since he was going eastward, he would be gaining a day! It's the kind
of thing that once you see it, you go "duh! of course!" so obvious!
Yet you never think of it! the irony is that Mr.Fogg planned and
planned, and seemed to have planned for any kind of delay, he seemed
to think of everything. Yet, he never thought of that! Something that
he could not foresee, plan for, or control, was how time works as you
travel across the world you know?it makes me think about how
sometimes, we try and try to plan for anything and everything, and
this reminds me that you can't, that there is always going to be
things you cannot control that will affect you. For the good, or for
the worse.

favorite quotes:

"I see that it is by no means useless to travel, if a man wishes to
see something new." Passepartout, in chapter 9 of Around the World in
80 Days.

But phileas fogg, who was not travelling, but only describing a
circumference, took no pains to inquire into these subjects; he was a
solid body, traversing an orbit around the terrestrial globe,
according to the laws of rational mechanics. –chapter 11 of Around the
World in 80 Days.

"The chance which now seems lost may present itself at the last
moment." Phileas Fogg, in chapter 13 of Around the World in 80 Days.