photo credit: just beachy
This is part two from my Lessons From India series. I am holidaying in India right now so make sure you subscribe to my feed so you don’t miss out on the up-coming stories and lessons.
This lesson is about simply being grateful for what you have. It is a lesson that hits you like a tonne of bricks when you arrive in India – there is poverty, disease and suffering everywhere and your intial reaction to those things is always “BOY AM I LUCKY”.
As you guys know, I have been to India many times. The funny thing is you never get used to the suffering. On my trips I have seen children who have their legs broken so that they can beg better. I have seen street dogs so diseased they can hardly walk. And I have seen men die in the streets while onlookers simply ignored them.
Intially I got depressed about all of this. I spent a lot of time in my hotel room hiding away from the suffering and the chaos. It took me a long time to learn that getting depressed about the suffering is not the right way. It took me a long time to realize that there was a lesson amongst all this garbage.
Now when I see suffering in India I think about how lucky I am. I am comparatively very wealthy – I have a house, a job, a family and a whole set of immunisations. I have it made.
The suffering still upsets me. It upsets me a lot. But it no longer gets me down and out. When I see people suffering I try to help where I can but I also make sure I take some lesson away from the situation. In some round about way this makes the suffering of the world not so obsolete.
So today’s lesson for all of you out there is simply to take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are and be grateful for that. The next time you feel like the world has you on your knees remember that there are others out there worse off than you and be happy for what you have.
I am convinced this is a big key to achieving satisfaction at work and in life.
See you soon!
Originally posted on July 13, 2008 @ 5:58 am
