Optimism

I'm usually a glass half full person - preferably a nice dry white. Given that I wouldn't say that I'm a lucky person, I'm not sure why. Life has been quite difficult, nothing has come to me without a great deal of effort & hard work.

The past 2 years has taught me that there are things that happen in life that I can't control. I just have to deal with them in the best way I can. I always tend to think, like Dale Carnegie, that the worst case scenario is unlikely to happen. Mostly it doesn't. When it does I learn something from the experience.

I used to be much more obsessive - a control freak. Never trusting anyone to do anything as well as I would. It's a delusion. There are always more ways than one to do things. No one method is infallible or "right". If you are fixated on one way in life's journey you may well miss the more interesting side road.

Travelling independently in India I quickly learned that if I stuck to slavishly to my itinerary I missed out on the expertise of my driver. Although it was in his interest to have me do it his way, it made for a much more enjoyable & relaxed trip to relinquish my Western notions of who was in charge. He always had the whip hand anyway.

The same was true in Libya. I learned from watching others that shouting & losing my temper when the itinerary changed got me nowhere. Accepting that not everything was within the control of my land agent / driver ended up with a much closer relationship with the Libyans I met and a greater understanding of them & the country. This resulted in some very special moments & relationships.

It's better to travel thinking that everything will be OK, trusting to the inherent goodness of most people, having planned as much as you can. It's all about the importance of the journey itself as well as the destination. Similarly the journey of life.

By the time I get to my destination I hope I will have become a better person than at the beginning. It's all about Karma - good actions. I'm optimistic that my good actions will have a beneficial effect on the people & world around me. I know that I can't keep up being good permanently - but I do try!