February 2015 ~ Chris Rice

At Paradise Island with my wife and her younger brother (mid-2014)

March of 2015 will mark the 5 year wedding anniversary that I share with my wife. It will also be my 6th year in the Philippines starting in August of this year. The longer I stay, the deeper I think. I usually think about how I would envision my future before and the beautiful things I ended up experiencing.

I am sure I am not the only one who thinks more deeply as time goes by. I don't think it has as much to do with moving to the Philippines as it has to do with getting older. That leads me to point out that humans are constantly thinking since there are so many thoughts that travel in a person's mind.

One of the things I think about is patterns. I notice patterns in my life that happen over and over again. Some of them are positive and some of them are negative. A specific pattern that has happened in my life more than once is starting a new life. I started a new life when I was adopted into a foster family and I started a new life when I left my foster family and friends to join the military in 2002. I also started a new life in 2009 when I moved to the Philippines.

The important thing for me is breaking the old patterns and continuing the cycles that benefit me and the people I love. I am okay with moving around and changing my country of residence, but I don't want to let time and distance divide me from people who helped me and encouraged me to grow. It's a noble concept but in a world where everyone's busy and travel isn't cheap, it isn't always achieved. I however have confidence that if I start now I can slowly reconnect with everyone in my past and bring together the bits and pieces of my 'pasts' and unite them with my present.