I love dreaming. And I madly believe that all dreams come true. Just look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work on following the dream. I’ll never forget the day that my dream came true and I touched the sky. It happened on 20th of August 2012 and it changed my life completely.
I remember saying good-bye to my parents in the airport of Boryspil (Kiev, Ukraine) and I recall that feeling of being alone with so many people around me. This was the first time ever I had to sit on the plane and it was the first time in my life I felt free. Free from everything. I didn’t know anybody in the airport; I didn’t know what was going to happen to me when I would land in the place of my destination – Dusseldorf, Germany. And the main thing is that I didn’t want to know. I just devoted myself to the moment of being in that place, at that time. I was fifteen and I was desperate for adventures! I remember my sitting near the window and taking off: my ears feel "popped", my knees were trembling, and my eyes couldn’t believe what was happening. I was leaving my country for a year, for the most exciting and unforgettable year I would spend with all the incredible people from different countries, for the year which would change me. But I couldn’t have known it at that time. I retain our plane going up and up and I remember that very moment when I dropped my eyes on the clouds passing by. It is hard to explain the whole beauty which emerged from the tiny window of that plane. I was stunned by the fascinating landscape in front of me. My heart started pounding so fast and from that moment on, I wasn’t asleep anymore. The beauty awaked my soul.
Being there I was thinking how small we really are in comparison with the immense world. How often we do not think about others, about nature, but only care for ourselves, how much value do we put on material and how less spiritual is left in our hearts. We seem to shrink in a shell of our own problems and failures and live our life like that. But the sky was always above us and it will always remain there. Life is just permanent impermanence and we have to live it the way we will never regret. I declare that we should abandon our offices, houses and start a journey. Discover world with all its unexpectedness and strangeness, learn different languages, meet people of different cultures and feel like being part of their nation, part of them. I call everyone to live the real life!
Another thing I understood on that plane was that there is no past and future, there is only now. I sat there and I realized that there was no past, because I was already in the air -I couldn’t return back or make the plane fly back. However, there was also no future in my head- I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Germany: I couldn’t foresee my relationships with host families, I couldn’t imagine my friends there, I couldn’t even comprehend the language very well. All I had at that moment- present time. That was such a valuable experience I carried through my life.
I will never erase from my mind all the people I met that day. I remember the woman in the airport, we met while I was waiting for my registration to start. She was the first to talk: she told me so much about her, she was asking me hundreds of questions, sharing everything she knew about Germany, its people and culture. She gave me her number and said I could call her any time I wish. She was living in Dusseldorf, so she invited me to her place and promised to provide me the best guide tour by way of the city! It emerged to be so suspicious for me, because I never thought people can be so open! But I still have her number saved in my phone. I remember landing in Germany and I keep in my mind the first person I saw there: it was a young man (he had to meet me at the airport and deliver to the host family, because I wasn't 16 at the time) and the strange thing for me was that he was smiling so open-heartedly. I was surprised, because he never knew me and it was his job and I thought that anyone in his place would love to do this job quickly without any unnecessary "talks" and so on. But he was telling me everything! I couldn't understand that much and I even told it to him, but he just went on with the language of gestures. I recall his laughing and some of his stories, I remember his interest in me: he was asking whether I had everything I needed, whether I wanted some water or maybe something sweet or was the flight comfortable for me and despite all of this, he never stopped smiling. Firstly, I thought it was awkward. But then I honestly liked it. He took me through corridors until we got to the check-up or something like that and he helped me with documents and after I was officialy in Germany he shook my hand and with an enermous smile and wished me all the best! I remeber my coming out of terminal and seeing a big poster saying: "MARINA WELCOME TO GERMANY!" from my host sisters. I never knew these people who were about to become my second family, but I huged all of them with such a deep feeling of love and appreciation. And it was the time when I grasped that each person is unique and special and there is so much good in each of us. We are just like stars: the sky is filled with us, but we are mostly stay invisible by day. I once read: "The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men. It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds and bad deeds. Men are just men-it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good or evil. The truth is that an instant of real love, in the heart of anyone-the noblest of man alive or the most wicked-has the whole purpose and process and meaning of life...". I understood this standing in the hall of the airport.
Sky is free, sky is eternal, sky is important and so are we-free, our soul-eternal and our life can make a big difference. But to understand all these values and to find our calling, "mission", we have to explore ourselves by means of exploring the world around us! Parents shouldn't be afraid to let their kids do what they like, be and think on their own way, give them space to develop their personality and identity.
To conclude, now I know that every journey alters and transforms our worldview as well as our worldperception. We should always keep in consideration that we can change the world within changing ourselves first. I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings.
