"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."
“Erica, do you remember when we visited Panama? It was a long time ago,” my dad asked as we drove around in beautiful Torrance, California.
“Yeah, I think so,” but actually, I couldn’t remember at all.
I didn’t know what my dad was trying to get to so I just went along with it. I had no idea that his next couple of words would change my life forever.
“Well, we might be moving there,” was nothing close to what I expected him to say. I thought he was going to tell me a funny story in exchange for accompanying him to the hardware store on a Sunday afternoon.
I was not prepared for such nerve-wrecking news. I didn’t know what to say. My mind was blank, then, suddenly, images of my friends and all the great times we would have in the future sped through my mind.
Immediately, I knew that we would be moving. If my father wasn’t sure, he never would have mentioned it.
The idea of moving affected me more than I thought it would. It was emotionally straining to have to accept the fact that, come June, I would be living in a different country. Defiantly, I decided that I would only move to Panama on the condition that I would be able to visit my hometown every summer. But, the harder I tried to hold on, the worse I felt about moving. It didn’t help that the year seemed to be coming to an end faster than I thought it would. Before I knew it, I was on my way to Panama.
We moved to Panama from my home in sunny California because my dad had bought a shrimp farm. Why a shrimp farm? Or, better yet, why Panama? Who knows? And, to be honest, I still don’t and I’ve been living here for two years. Still yet, as much as I hated to leave California, I was excited to come to a new country: a totally new world and lifestyle. I guess it’s the wild and adventurous blood I inherited from my dad.
But, for the first time in a while, I was undecided on how I felt. I was torn between accepting a new, exciting life and holding on to the perfect one I had been living.
I knew that moving to Panama would be a great experience for me, but once I arrived I just wanted to get out. In my narrow-minded point of view, I came to believe that Panama was a horrible place to be, let alone living there. This was only because I was trying to find something wrong with what I saw. And as much as I wanted to have fun, I was stuck in the past.
One day, I stared at myself in the mirror and I could see the toll of what over-thinking had done to me. My negative outlook was my worst enemy, and I had been letting it win – it was obvious. I looked sad, not my usual self. It was only when I looked into the eyes of my reflection did I realize that I had to snap out of whatever I was going through and get back to reality. From that day on, I convinced myself to believe that there are good and bad things of every place, but I should respect every feature, good or bad, and love Panama for what it is.
With this new mindset, I quickly began to enjoy my time in my new environment. I’m proud to say that I have taken advantage of being here: I learned how to scuba dive, witnessed sea turtles come to shore to lay eggs, and I’ve even visited different countries in Central America. And these were only a few things that have helped me appreciate everything life has to offer me.
At the end of my first school year, the time finally came for me to take my trip back to California. I was so excited; I had many stories to share. That summer, while telling my friends about my adventures in Panama, I realized that I was living life to the fullest, at least for a 15 year-old. I had experiences that none of my friends even dreamed of – and all that time I had been wishing for a miracle to stop my family from moving. The real miracle was the move. That miracle changed my life, for the better. Because of the move, I’ve become a completely new person: worldly, open-minded, and appreciative.
Although the decision to move to Panama was not mine, I did have a choice on one matter: how I would live once I arrived. I’m grateful that I had been given this opportunity because this has been, by far, the most rewarding experience in my life. Not only because of what I have been able to do, but also because of what I’ve been able to learn. This move was a test of character, one that has taught me the most important lesson of all – it’s all about attitude.
