Time is of the essence for me now, as the year draws to a close on my mind-boggling adventure that has taken me around the world from the beginning of January till now. Because of that, I only have one free day to spend in Amsterdam before New Year’s Eve obligations and friend meet-ups keep me busy for my final 24 hours of living abroad. So, in a city with a reputation for offering a little bit of something for everybody’s taste, guess what I chose to do for my only tour around the capital city of Holland?

I visited Anne Frank’s house...

Her famous diary has been required reading for US schoolchildren for as long as I can remember. But apparently that’s all I can remember, because only the obvious details are the things that I can recall from her sad history. It’s time to change that, so I joined a lengthy line leading to the entrance along with many other travelers hoping to get a brief peak at what occupied Holland might have felt like.

From the moment that I entered Anne’s tiny hiding place, the emotions hit me as I imagined how difficult and confusing it must have felt for this bright little girl to live during those times. Can you imagine? Let’s put it in perspective—the most I had to worry about while growing up was what clothes were considered cool to wear, what boy I had a crush on at any given moment, and how I thought that all of my teachers were out to get me. How easy I had it, in retrospect, and how long it’s taken me to realize that fact.

So I huddled around the preserved handwritten pages that Anne devoted most of her time to while living in a cramped attic space with seven other people. I watched disturbing videos of skeletal figures detained in the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, and caught glimpses of rare black-and-white clips during Western Europe’s liberation. As the world now faces economic uncertainty, nuclear weapons, depletion of natural resources, global warming, and so on and so forth, we have to keep in mind that it could be worse. A lot worse...

But do you know what hit me the most while I silently shuffled through the bare rooms of Anne’s historical canal house? A quote that was painted in bold letters across one cold wall that Anne said on May 11, 1944. It simply stated: “You’ve known for a long time that my greatest wish is to be a journalist, and later on, a famous writer. In any case, I’d like to publish a book called ‘The Secret Annexe.’”

As an established journalist and aspiring author myself, those words cut to the very center of my soul. Hot tears instantly formed in my eyes and brimmed over. I glanced up at my boyfriend who quietly laid his arm across my shoulders for mental support, and all I could get across was one sentiment. “Life just isn’t fair sometimes, is it?”

So, my friends, I suppose my biggest wish for you as we enter a new year filled with hope and possibilities is to enjoy what you have, and try to forget what you don’t have. The concerns that you surely consider overwhelming really are not. We will get through the hard times, but also remember to enjoy each day’s good times as if we only have a limited supply. And no matter the circumstances, please try to be happy. Life is much too short not to be...