The meaning of life...

The meaning of life is to live it.

I have this quote posted everywhere.
It seriously does SO much for me.

It makes me spontaneous, it helps me through hard times,
 it motivates me, it is the theme of my life. 

Being here in Europe I have seen dozens of memorials and read hundreds of plaques that all have the same message as well. I thought that I understood hard times, I thought that I understood war. I thought that I had a grasp on what living your life to the fullest meant. I was wrong. I have learned so much here in Europe and everyday I am reminded of what a blessing life is. 

Each country I visit, each city I see,
there is something new to learn
 and something new to apply to my life. 

Berlin is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. I didn't think much of it while I was there. It was not flashy like Paris, it was not culturally rich like Prague... It was... Berlin. Berlin has had a past that you cannot understand until you visit it. Berlin was the center of WWII and the Cold War. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times and is still in the process of this. My favorite part of this city? Hands down, the memorials. They seem to be the only things in the city that are not under-construction or that stand solely for good reason. The entire city is under construction but every corner you turn you are reminded of how precious and beautiful life and peace are. 

In Amsterdam we went to Anne Frank's house and it was definitely a highlight of my trip there. 

Anne Frank was a young jewish girl who desired to be free. As she hid with her family whispering, tip toeing, and holding back the screams and tears of life, she wrote things that are profound and will stick with me forever. I have taken dancing, laughing, crying, yelling, jumping, and running for granted. I have the blessing of not only life, but a free life. I am able to be who I want and do things as I please. Can you imagine not being able to cry or laugh? I can't. They tend to be my favorite ways of releasing my emotions, Anne Frank and her sister were not allowed to do either. 

Dachau, Germany is home to the Dachau WWII concentration camp. This is the biggest camp in Germany and it was incredible. I cannot begin to explain the feelings that were felt here. The world's most cruel people were here stealing the lives of thousands of innocent people. I cannot begin to put into words that emotions that I felt here. I wish that I could. I wish that I could better explain my experience here. But I can't seem to find the way to say it. It was the saddest place I have ever been, not the let's break down and start sobbing, but the heart wrenching, perma chills, speechless, cold sad. If the victims of hate here had hope; I need to have hope too. There will always be a brighter tomorrow, you just can't quit or lose hope before it comes. You may think life cannot get darker or that things couldn't get worse. And they will. Things will get brighter and better though as well. It just takes time, hope, and healing. Endure. 

A few more reminders of what life is and what we need to make of it.

Holocaust memorial (Berlin)

(Berlin)

Memorial and Dachau Camp (Dachau)

(Dachau)

(Dachau)

Jewish grave of ashes (Dachau)

(Dachau)

(Dachau)

Czech is free (Prague)

Destroyed in WWII (Prague)

Parts of building are the only things that remain (Prague)

Statue standing across the line of the border to the Jewish Ghetto

(Prague)

Oldest remaining building is a Jewish Synagogue 

(Prague)

Graveyard of Jews 20,000 headstones, possibly 100,000 buried

(Prague)

An entire building for one statue of a mom holding her soldier son

(Berlin)

Gestapo and S.S. head quarters (Berlin)

Check point between freedom and not. (Berlin)

Hope for a brighter tomorrow (Berlin)

Where a wall stood that encircled and captivated an entire society of innocent people

(Berlin)

Remaining pieces of The Wall (Berlin)

(Berlin)

(Berlin)

Anne Frank House (Amsterdam)

(Amsterdam)

Living is a blessing.
I have always known this but it is always nice to be reminded of it.
Thousands and thousands of people all around the world
 have had their lives taken away from them.
 Mine has not yet been taken, so I need to live.
I need to live my life to the fullest and so do you. 

scream, laugh, jump, and be happy.