Well today was a very special day. Because today, was 6 weeks in Durika, meaning I am already half way through my stay here! How scary is that? It feels like I only arrived last week.
Today has been a bit of a strange day and a little different from most, because I spent so much time on the computer. My ’30 minute only’ allowance of time spent on the internet was broken, in order to research universities. The only reason I set my ’30 minute only’ internet regulation, was to stop me spending all day effectively ‘living’ at home and not allowing myself to be absorbed in the beauty, that is Durika village. But today was an out of the ordinary day.
Oh yeah, but we did go to for a ‘swim’ this morning in the water fall which is always a fun and refreshing occasion to say the least, although I somehow always manage to forget just how far the walk there and back is.
Anyhow, as I said I am half way through my stay. It has taken me a little while to get used to how it works in the community. I found that at the beginning I was always striving to get to some other place or some other time. During the 1st morning session I would be constantly counting down the time until breakfast and then after breakfast I would look forward to lunch and then the afternoon off. But when I got to the afternoon I didn’t quite know what to do with myself, so at the beginning I didn’t feel that my time here being allowed to flow.
However, the other day we watched a movie. Now I know this sounds really cheesy and fake but its true when I say that it has really helped me this last week. I was starting to understand more, that I needed to appreciate everything and not always focus on the future, but it hadn’t quite clicked but the movie managed to move the final cogs into line. It was about a gymnast who was amazing at what he did (the rings by the way), was at the top of his game and was attempting to compete for the gold medal in the Olympics. He had everything going for him, including a gift with the opposite sex, which made watching those parts almost as awkward as if you were watching it with your parents. Despite all this, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t realize it, but he wasn’t ever satisfied. Anyway to cut a long story/ movie short this man he meets helps him understand that you have to live in the present not in the past or future. If you can do that you will be constantly happy and you will get much more from life. ‘It’s the journey that is so exciting not the destination’. And that was very true for me. Where I am now is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but when I was working I never even glanced at what was around me to enjoy it. I had to set myself a specific time when I was going to go and allow myself the opportunity to appreciate it and take pictures. How bad is that? But this has helped me to realize that I can enjoy it throughout the day. Well, it has meant my last week especially, has been absolutely wonderful as I have finally taken full advantage of what this place has provided to me.
So I have learned a great deal from this short amount of time here so far, things I think would have taken me a lot longer to learn if I had been in the same environment that I was so used to at home. I have learned things about myself, other people as well as how to enjoy living life. But I’m almost certain I’m going to be taught a great deal more from the rest of my time here, and am thoroughly looking forward to it. I am guessing that these next few weeks will go a lot faster than up till now, but I will hang on to every second, loving every step of the way.
Learn from the past, live in the present and welcome the future.
