Big circles

"But there's not enough time!" I said. "There's so many things I want to do, so much to see, so many places to go. I'm not even done exploring Malaysia."

"You know what's the thing about you?" he said.

"What?"

"You draw your circles very wide."

"What do you mean?"

"The circle that is your life - you draw it very big. For me, I've studied abroad, and I think I've seen enough of the world that nothing really takes me by surprise anymore. I draw my circle very small and I've covered or experienced most of what's in that circle.

"You... just being in Malaysia you are always finding new things to do and discover... you don't limit your life to specific experiences or people or acquaintances... for you... (and here he waved his arms around making big circles in the air) your life is this huge, never-ending, enormous circle... that you can never finish exploring.... life to you is so much wider and bigger than for most people."

I took a sip of black coffee and paused to think.

He was right. Still is.

I do. I do 'draw my circles very big'.

And I don't think I ever want to change that.