Continuing the argument

Thanks for the support Jesse, I think you made the point better than Bre. I appologize to everyone else as Bre really has no grounds for lecturing anyone at this point. Maybe I will instead.....It's a shame that more people don't realize that there is going to be many more than one opportunity for a job in their lives. We live in a country that is very, very secure. We don't have to be paranoid about losing it, it won't happen, that's what they worry about in the 3rd world. We, as Canadians, or westerners for that matter, should be taking advantage of it to allow ourselves to grow as people and become something more. People have fought and died for our freedom and security for hundreds of years. That doesn't mean that we should just sit here content, but move on to the next level.
People that are secure at home growing up with their parents still eventually move out and try to tackle the unknown and find their place in the world. It's the same concept, just on a global scale. We have had good "parents", but we are for the most part, still living at "home". It would make us better citizens of the world in the long run and accelerate the progress of other "nonsense ideology" like World Peace, etc. It is our ignorance that allows such things to exist, nothing more. We are too greedy, and fear losing something that really can't be lost, consequently we are easily manipulated as a people and the world suffers around us. Our country is too great and gives us so much already that there is nothing to fear. Like Jesse said, if you don't shake things up once in a while you can't move up in life either. Even better than Jesse, where is Sandra, or Alysha? Talk about people serious about doing something they want to do despite initial "risk" and they just keep moving up and up in the world. I really respect their commitment to their dreams and desires.
I am paying my own way so I know what this trip is worth. Yeah, I could be doing something else, I have friends that are now finishing Med school, I have friends that are married and have kids, a house, and are well on their way up the career ladder, etc. I could have that all too (well, if anyone would be crazy enough to marry me in the first place) but have chosen not to and have not regretted the decision. Do I worry about what I will do when I get back? No. Why? Is it because I am a super-human genius or something and I can do anything? No. It's because I know I can get a crappy job quickly when I get back and then find a better one a little while later. In reality I am not any more employable than anyone else. I'm just willing to work hard when I have to. I will work again, and I won't be any farther behind than the rest of you guys at the end of the next millenium, so what's the rush to get started? Is my entry to heaven conditional on hitting all the major life markers on a set timeline? Or will the writing on my tombstone reflect how fast I graduated, got married, bought a house, had a heart attack and died. No, it'll say something much simpler, that I was a good man and loved my family. And that can be done in so many ways.
I don't know how many times now I have escaped an early death but it is at least a couple. I'm not going to wait and risk dying again before I enjoy myself. The point is that ANYONE can do this, there are no super human qualifications necessary to acquire first, and there are more people than you think doing this right now. I have not met a single one that has regretted it. I know that everyone's situation is different and some people really do have others to support and can't do it at this exact moment. That doesn't mean that you are disqualified forever. If you want to go, don't make excuses. There are too many regrets in life already, follow your dreams and do what you want to do, the rest of the world will wait and support you, believe it or not. If you don't want to go, I'll think you're crazy because it is amazing, but I won't hold it against you. BUT if you tell me to come home and start REAL LIFE sooner rather than later, I reserve the right to never talk to you again.
Ammon