BootsnAll Travel Network



Adapt: My New Mantra

One thing I´ve been meaning to write about for awhile is fear.

Traveling-at least as far as I see it-is about confronting your fears, and getting over them. At least, for me.

When I first started this trip, I remember feeling a s trange combination of elation(for actually doing it) and being really scared. I was scared of lots of things: getting robbed; getting sick; bugs; not speaking a language; being isolated; being far from home…the list goes on and on.

Once I started traveling, though, it has truly amazed me how just the process of travel has altered my perceptions of fears I have had. Traveling has given me the opportunity to confront fears at such a rapid rate that it is astonishing.

Back in the States, life was pretty easy-especially regarding fears. In the States, my entire life was set up to avoid anything I didn´t like, or that I was afraid of. For example, if I didn´t like a situation, I could avoid it. If I didn´t like a certain food, I didn´t eat it. If I was afraid of getting robbed, I didn´t go the places where it was a possibility. I was completely in control of my life, and I controlled my life so that I was comfortable and relatively unchallenged. Some of these fears, or dislikes, are my own-and some are the product of my culture.

Here, it´s the exact opposite. When I don´t like a certain situation-well, too bad. I have to deal with it, and I have to get over being frustrated or fearful about new things in the process.

Here are some examples:

1. I am very afraid of cockroaches, especially the large flying kind. Now, look how far I have come: the other night I was invited to an important person´s house in the community. They offered me coffee in a half coconut shell, which I began to drink. Suddenly, an enormous flying cockroach flew into my cup! What did I do? I got over my fear and plucked it out, and then proceeded to finish the coffee.

2. I am afraid of getting sick, of being exposed to disease. However, when I first arrived, the only place available was next to the tuberculosis clinic, with the patients milling about and coughing..

3. I am afraid of discomfort-or, rather, I really don´t like to be uncomfortable. At this point, comfort is relative. It´s more a question of how much discomfort can I tolerate, than how much comfort I actually need.
4. I am afraid of saying no to things, or choosing what works best for me and my interests in agiven situation. For example, those of you who have been reading the blog know that part of the trip I have been planning has included LIberia, Africa. However, recently the only reasonable airline flying there has decided to close-leaving only flights with Brussels Air, at a whopping 4,000 for a flight. I had to tell Libertia no, in spite of their generous offer to help me with the ticket. It is just not the right time for me to go there.
5. I am afriad of losing control-well, here, too bad. I´m never in comtrol of anything. I never know what will happen next, I never know what will be expected of me, and I can never predict the outcome of any situation. Stuff happens-the car breaks down, I have to walk to the highway; I am nervous to ride a horse, but that´s the only way to get where I need to go; I need privacy and silence, but when I get home, twenty family members are there.

Adapt, adapt, adapt. My new mantra.



Tags:

5 responses to “Adapt: My New Mantra”

  1. Sande says:

    THIS is actually a good mantra for all of us. adapt, adapt, adapt.

  2. It is really a great and useful piece of info. I’m happy that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

  3. I will immediately seize your rss feed as I can’t find your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me recognize in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.

  4. Watch out for the rabbi lending a helping hand..thats what a SAYANIM is, and they certainly dont hide it in the movie.

  5. SPeak of the bowling alley, wouldnt it be nice to see it reemerge back into its glorious self again? I used to like to bowl occasionally.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *