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Posts by Allyson K. Stroschein

Allyson Stroschein is a recovering adrenaline junkie and the storyteller behind Shanti Pax, a blog dedicated to telling inspirational stories of peace. Shanti Pax uses the art of storytelling adventurism to view current-day events through a spiritual lens. Learn more at shantipax.com or connect on Twitter.

Give Back to Others by Giving to Yourself First

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” ~Dalai Lama

I looked out my window and saw only sand. I was on a Beechcraft 1900 turboprop flying into Baghdad in the fall of 2003.

The U.S. had invaded six months prior and was occupying the country. From day one, I loathed the idea of invading a sovereign country, so as my plane spiral landed to avoid surface-to-air missiles, I said to myself, “Why am I here?”

From the youngest age, I wanted to give back—stop war, end poverty, ease suffering.

Upon graduating from …