change | All Right Choices

We’re born in one location, we grow up, we start our journey in life, but we have no idea about where we’ll end up. Life is not meant to be lived in one place, so we search the world for happiness, and we look for that special place, to make us feel at peace.

Regardless of how our lives change from one year, to the other, one thing will always stay the same: we need a home. Our story starts home, and it ends home.

When we think of home, what first comes in our minds is the place of residence someone has. We associate home with a building, where we grew up, or currently live in. We associate it with a city, an area, a country.

However, home is not a place. Houses are built with bricks and wood, homes are built with love and peace. Hands can build a house, but only hearts can build a home. Home can’t be materialized. Home is a feeling. Home is always that place we go back to, when our heart and mind look for peace.

Our needs, change in time, and so is our view of the world, and our definition of peace. The more we travel, the more we see, the more we understand about ourselves and the world around us. Seeing more, learning more, means the way we look at things changes.

Life takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home.

We travel, we search for happiness, we move where our heart takes us, and after a while, we go back to the place we used to call home. We think that’s where our home is, but it just doesn’t feel quite right. It doesn’t make us feel comfortable anymore, we can’t find our spot, and we definitely don’t find inner peace.

It’s a funny thing about comin’ home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you. ~ Benjamin Button

The place doesn’t change, or not at much, but still, even if it looks the same, it doesn’t feel like home anymore. Places don’t change, we do. Our experiences make us richer, changes our worldview and redefines the way we look at our surroundings. We slowly find out that home is made out of the people we love. Our friends, family, spouse.

Home begins when we find ourselves, is located deep into our hearts, and as long as we’re at peace, home is anywhere we want it to be.

We should never tie home to a place or fill our home with furniture or other material possessions. We should fill our home with love, memories, people. Our homes are always carried insides us, and when we achieve true happiness, it gives us the wings to fly.

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We all have a cause we believe it’s worth fighting for: either related to wildlife conservation, environment or human rights. Regardless of which one of the above is closest to your heart, you’ve probably found yourself, at least once, doing something to improve the situation. Personally, I was involved in all of the above, at a certain point in my life.

After working as a volunteer, on and off, for a few international organizations and NGOs, I can’t help it but to look back on all the work they do, and ask myself, how much is it actually done. How much power do they have to make a change?

Some might think things move faster if you work at an international scale. Others believe what actually helps is working locally, at a smaller scale. Because the opinions are divided, so are the type of entities which make it happen: international organizations and local NGOs.

What all of them have in common, is the way in which they get to the final goal. Paperwork first, approvals, persuading, negotiating, and in the end, actually doing something. This makes the entire process difficult, and sometimes, when they can legally proceed to improve the situation, it’s too late. If you are an NGO, or any type of organization or agency, you have to obey some rules and regulations, and only when all the conditions are met, you can achieve something. You just can’t go around it. International organizations seem to have a lot of power, but keep in mind that they have to deal with Governments and politics, which slows them down considerably, or even block them from achieving the goal. What is also common, is that not all the people working at a high level are actually interested in the cause, but they are in it for the material benefits. Sad, but a reality of the society we live in…

So, what actually works? What does the trick when is needed?

The answer is quite surprising: YOU. Private individuals achieve more than any authorized entity does and ever will. You are the supreme force. You can go out there, and make a difference. There’s nothing we can’t do, as a community, as a society. Working together is what makes it happen.

And by going out there, I don’t mean ‘Liking’ a picture on Facebook, or ‘Sharing’ it. Don’t get me wrong, this can also be effective when it comes to pet adoptions (I got a dog I’ve never met, adopted on another continent, only through sharing posts with the right people), but in most cases, raising awareness only, doesn’t do the trick. When it comes to a certain individual or situation, more is better. If it’s something you can do, just go out there and do it!

This is how your Likes from Facebook help end hunger and assist the needy

Previously working with refugees, I can tell you for sure nothing is more useless to them, than a person sitting in front of a computer, and clicking ‘Like’ on Facebook. Fleeing the country with only the clothes they are wearing, and a huge emotional luggage, they need help integrating in the new community, food, clothes, education, legal assistance.

An animal waiting in a shelter to be adopted doesn’t care either about you pitting him on a social network. All he needs is a home, food, medical care and lots of love, and these must come soon, before time runs out, and he will be euthanized.

Complaining about pollution and change in climate, won’t help either if you don’t actively get involved, to improve the situation. You can and should use only what you need, and save as much as possible on resources. And yes, it all starts with you. Complaining about other’s attitude, but you not changing yours, won’t do the trick.

During the years I’ve met people who go for what they think is right, and I was amazed by how much things chance, compared to the situation in which you have to wait for other people to make the decisions for you. These special individuals who put the cause they fight for, above themselves, are the ones who get to the goal.

Best part is that we all have this in us, we can all dedicate ourselves to helping others. All we have to do is open our eyes and hearts and get involved. Find a cause you really care about, get informed, and get busy changing things. Even if you can’t help all the animals or people in need in the world, you can completely change the world for that person or animal. And that’s what makes all the difference.

We all have a skill which others might use, or which can benefit an animal or the environment. If what you know how to do best is plant trees, do it. If you have some clothes you can donate to someone in need, do it. If you can switch off the light or use less water, do it. If we all do a little bit, that bit becomes a lot. It might seem like nothing much, but if we all choose to don’t do it, because nobody else does it, then we’ll destroy this planet completely, one day at a time, and for now, we only have one Earth, so we can’t afford such a situation.

Remember that it all starts with you, with one person, always, before it reaches global scale! Don’t wait for others to do it, thinking somebody else will take care of this, as things might not ever get done. And maybe, that somebody, who can go out there and achieve something, is … YOU!