Author: admin

So this post goes out to the lady in the middle, because I make the rules on this website, and she deserves a shout out.

Mom, I will never know the sacrifices you took when you embarked on the crazy journey of raising me and Nina.

You’ve done it with such patience, such pizazz, and such strength. Even though I’m 29, you continue to do it today.

I don’t know the kind of human I would be without you and Papa. You both instill such hope in me, I am so glad that is my namesake (for those who don’t know, “Asha” means “hope”).

Today I wish you peace, because that is not something I have been able to provide you with lately. I wish you courage and strength and hope. That you may rest assured that my spirit is forever linked to yours.

I remember when I was young. I wanted to be an actress, or a singer. Someone in the spotlight. Someone known. I feel so known by you, and that’s all I could ask for.

Sending you love and hugs and I hope Dixie does a good job of licking you in the face!

Thank you for being my Mom. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dear Friends,

It is about 2 o’clock over here in China. I am doing my best to find comfort in the connections I have made, but I thoroughly miss those back home.

Part of me believes I have been spoiled to the core, to grow up with a support system that I miss deeply and dearly. I have family in America and abroad, and to feel so loved is a blessing.

This challenge surpasses anything I have ever done. I feel weak at times, to be so far from those I love. I feel scared and challenged and pushed to my limits. I feel uncertain and unsure most of the time. What am I doing?!

I have been blessed with an opportunity I never thought possible. But often blessings are accompanied by fears and uncertainties.

Over the past year my spirituality has grown significantly. Thank God for the growth in this area prior to this experience. Sometimes you have to hit your knees and pray for something bigger than yourself to show you the way.

So that is what I am doing. Hitting my knees, praying for the wisdom to do the next right thing. Praying for guidance and support, for growth and strength.

 

Yesterday I ran laps around the track. It reminded me of home, of running in high school, of friends that sweated and cursed the heat with me. (Try cross country in Mississippi). It reminded me of challenges, of fighting, of my strength. It reminded me of the ability to conquer anything if I put my mind to it.

It reminded me of how to do life.

I am not one to give up. I am not one to bow down. I will see this thing through. But I will respect myself enough to do what is right. There is a world of opportunity at my fingertips, a hallway of new friends with kind spirits. I pray for you, friends, and I hope you pray for me too.

Peace, Namaste, Love.

So I’ve been stalling…

Because it’s never fun to admit when you’re struggling.

But here’s a fact: we all struggle, and why not share in the hardships as well as the beauty of life?

It has been an adventure, moving to a country where almost no one speaks English. Moving to an island where I appear to be the only foreigner (a guy legit videoed me while running the other day…)

Moving to a country where the chicken is served COMPLETE with a face, head, beak….

Yes, I’ve had to adapt. But there is something beautiful about being challenged beyond your expectations. Having to adapt to a world of difference. There is something beautiful about meeting new people and exploring a different world together. About mistakes and dreams and everything in between. There is much to be grateful for.

I have tons of videos and pictures, so I will update soon!

Thanks to everyone who keeps up with the blog.

I’m currently sitting in a Chinese Starbucks in Beijing. I feel like I may not be expanding my horizons quite as much as I should…

I have been in China for a full two days. Most of my time here has been spent eating, sleeping, and figuring out the ins and outs of living in a new country. I now have a Chinese phone, a Chinese bank account with $0 and a new appreciation for Google Translate.

I’ve gotten to meet performance coaches and physical therapists from all over the world. Australia, Wales, the U.K., Poland, Brazil, and the U.S. just to name a few. A melting pot of people with similar mindsets as my own, the desire to travel the world and experience different cultures. I have never felt so lucky.

There’s still a lot I don’t know: what team I’ll be working with, where I’ll be living, who I’ll be living with…. right now I’m living out of my $200 overweight suitcase in a hotel room with no in between water temperature and questionably stained carpet. The meals are free, Buffett style devoid of descriptions, so every food is an adventure (you never know quite what you’re eating).

I’m hungry for adventure, to travel, to meet people and form new relationships, to be immersed in a culture different from my own, to be challenged and pushed outside my comfort zone (the toilet situation is certainly a nod in that direction).

I’m excited to learn, to confirm what I already know to be true: that human connection is possible despite language or cultural barriers, that  we are all made from the same stuff, that our willingness to be open and vulnerable and tolerant will bless us beyond our wildest dreams.

Keep looking out for new posts as I get more settled and less jet lagged!

“Nĭ hăo” from the Chicago airport.

Three months of Rosetta Stone later, and “hello” is the only Chinese word I’ve been able to master.

My flight boards in approximately 30 minutes. So forgive any flaws of this blog post – it’s truly a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants post. Mostly to appease my mother, who, as far as I know, may be the only follower of this blog. From the moment my parents left me at the airport up until now, I’ve received no short of 22 text messages, complete with pictures and emojis. When I called just ten minutes ago, my mom’s first question was, “Will you call again before you leave?” (As mentioned above, flight boards in 30 min. Leaves in about an hour).

And people wonder why I’m single.

In all honesty, I’m glad to have the parents I do. I feel that, in a way, I’m following in my dad’s footsteps. When he was around my age, he left his home country of India to pursue a medical residency in the US. Little did he know he would fall in love with an American and his whole life would change. Of course, he always tells me how he came to the US with “only $8 in my pocket,” and I’m over here coughing up an extra $200 because I couldn’t manage to keep my bags under 50 pounds. (Girl’s gotta have her standards).

I’ll be sure to update with more videos, posts and pictures when I get to China. In the meantime, download WeChat to keep in touch with me: my user ID is ashamarieanand.

Until then, I’ve got about 20 minutes to load up on the best American food the Chicago airport has to offer. Come at me, grease soaked pretzels and jumbo sodas.

xoxo,

Asha

My life has never followed the norm.

I came into this world with my twin sister, Nina, a little over 29 years ago. We were born in Jackson, Mississippi, to a mother hailing from Yankee country in Indiana, and a father hailing from overseas in India. My parents decided that it wasn’t enough to raise a multicultural baby in Dixieland; they bestowed on me the name “Asha Anand,” which doesn’t roll so easily off a southerner’s tongue. (It’s a soft A like ahh, not the hard A like ashes.)

Oh and that’s not all. My parents also raised Nina and me as vegetarians in a state where even the green beans come seasoned with bacon.

From an early age, my aspirations were simple: my mother recollects that, in a room full of parents whose children’s dream jobs were doctors, lawyers, and astronauts, she had the pleasure of announcing, “My daughter wants to become a country music singer.”

(If you have the misfortune of stumbling upon my Instagram page, you will be comforted to know that, for society’s sake, that dream did not come to fruition.)

Instead, I began a long climb toward achieving, in lieu of figuring out who the heck I really was. I defined myself by every external accomplishment I could get my hands on, and grew increasingly distant from knowing what my true values and aspirations really were.

I’ve experienced heartbreak and embarrassment, anxiety and fatigue, self-defeat and cowardice because I cared too much about what other people thought of me.

I isolated, screwed up relationships, battled with frustration in jobs, harbored resentments, and was on a path to self-destruction.

I’ve been called a drama queen, too sensitive, a pushover, and more, but the worst things I’ve been called have been labels I’ve given myself.

And after awhile, I got sick of it.

Sometime in the last year, by God’s grace and nothing else, I’ve been able to release the reins I’ve so tightly held on to, and let go. In this new phase of surrender, I am experiencing life on life’s terms, and y’all, the universe sure knows what it’s doing a lot better than I do.

Let me be clear: I’m still figuring all this out. The biggest blessing I’ve learned is that life is more about the journey than the destination. It’s about the connections made along the way, the sights and smells and sounds that make up a moment. If anything is clear, it’s that life is unpredictable, and we are not in control. But what greater freedom than to know we do not have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders? That there’s a greater power with a greater plan painting the canvas of our lives with colors we didn’t even know exist.

Somewhere in all this discovery, I realized that being ‘normal’ is overrated. The things that make us different are the things that allow us to connect with people from all walks of life. It’s our unique attributes and differences that confirm equality and shatter any notion of hierarchy in a world where we’re all made from the same stuff.

So, I’m excited to share the next chapter of my life. I’m uprooting again and moving East, closer to my father’s origins. I won’t speak the language or blend in all that well, but I rest easy knowing that love transcends culture, race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status. That, when I surrender and get in tune with my true self, I am connected to that same power of love which sustains us all.

Namaste, y’all.