Circumstancial Thoughts

"How you see your circumstance is all about a choice…”

As I again pedaled downhill through the mud and pouring rain, I was reminded of the fact that although we cannot always choose our circumstances, we can choose the attitude in which we respond to those circumstances. I may be wet, cold, and muddy. Those are circumstances I cannot change, but, I can be wet, cold, muddy, and miserable—or I can be wet, cold, muddy, and happy J The choice is up to me.

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There are so many things I wish I did not have to experience here, but there are so many more things I would miss out on, had I not the ability to experience them...

If I didn’t have a sense of smell, I wouldn’t have to smell the stench of pit latrines. But if I didn’t have a sense of smell, I would miss out on the incense of freshly-cut eucalyptus branches.

If I didn’t have a sense of sight, I wouldn’t have to view violence and neglect. But if I didn’t have a sense of sight, I would miss out on the beautiful smiles that light up those occasional grueling moments of teaching.

If I didn’t have a sense of touch, I wouldn’t have to feel the bites of angry siafu (army ants). But if I didn’t have a sense of touch, I would miss out on the feel of a young hand clasping mine.

If I didn’t have a sense of taste, I wouldn’t have to taste Tanzanian hot peppers (one of which I spooned whole into my mouth, thinking it was a chunk of carrot—surprise!). But if I didn’t have a sense of taste, I would miss out on the delicious abundance of freshly-harvested fruits.

Seated atop the rough-cut boards that constitute a tree house, breathing in the clean air, feeling the mist of raindrops on my skin, and overlooking the acacia-tree filled valley, I decide that, yes, I am glad I can experience ALL of this. Beauty overwhelms pain. Life is worth living…

 

(Written in March 2014)