Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realise it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it!   Mother Theresa

Hmm, this amazing woman, serving the poor and needy in Calcutta, India- What a statement!

Mother Theresa was born on the Balkans. She is great example of this part of Europe’s complexity. She was born in 1910 in the Ottoman Empire, in Skopje (today’s capital of Macedonia). Her mother was probably from Kosovo and so was her father. Both were ethnic Albanian. To make it clear the Albanian government has called their national airport “Mother Theresa Airport”, so she was Albanian. But she had an Indian citizenship.

Complex? Yes…

She left home as young girl. After studies in England she got a heart for India. Her story is a special one, she became famous, got the Nobel Peace prize and her work is still going on. But she was sure to hear stories and live her story to the full. She had a fantastic life story.

I love to listen to the life stories of other people, not only those like Mother Theresa, since every one of us has a story to tell, has lived life with their own experiences. I love the stories and therefore I also love people. We all have a story of a childhood, of getting older or just a story from the day just passed.

We all have a story to tell.

I have one and you have one, we all are making our life stories. I look back at my first meeting with a former communist nation. I was a young boy in the back seat of my parents’ car. We drove all over Europe, but at one point we crossed the border into former East Germany. It was a big contrast, and in a young boy’s mind it was something I never would have been able to picture. The first night we spent in Wittenberg, the city that Martin Luther put on the map. We were sleeping in a private home and listening to the stories of the family we stayed with. I think my love for this part of the world started on this trip.

I find it interesting to listen to all the people coming to our community, our staff, friends and guests. They all tell different stories and I love listening to them, it tells me something about who they are, and also who I am. I always challenge people to live their story, live for more than themselves and as Mother Theresa stated; “Live the life!”

Live your life story… live your dream!

Till next time,

Rune Sæther