Rules for Survival
1) SMILE-- when people stare, point, laugh, leer, jeer, or shout things i don't understand at me, rather than getting paranoid, fearful, angry, or withdrawn, I'll make eye contact, smile, and wave or bow or whatever.
2) LAUGH-- As i adapt to a totally new culture and way of life, many things i do (or try to do and fail spectacularly at...) will be funny to those around me. People regularly laugh at my attempts to eat with just the fingers of the right hand; at my efforts toward speaking Malayalam. And i'll grant that the sight of a grown man from the world's great superpower struggling to get rice from the plate to his mouth is probably nigh hilarious. So I have to remember to not take myself too seriously and always be willing to see myself as other see me and to laugh at that image when it's amusing.
3) BE GRATEFUL-- No matter how bad things seem, or how hard they get, or how much I'm struggling, I need to find something to be grateful for. If i ever get sick of my room, I need to remember that there are those very nearby (maybe a couple hundred meters) who don't have a private room or a bed or electricity or a bathroom with running water. Even in this small room, I am very fortunate and privileged to have the living situation I do, and I can't forget that. If i ever get tired of the food here, I need to remember those (also very nearby) who get less to eat in an entire day than i do at one meal, and be thankful for the food that i get. No matter how bad things get, there's always something to be thankful for. And these reflections should also be jumping off points for offering whatever i can of my time, resources, and self to those nearby people.
1) SMILE-- when people stare, point, laugh, leer, jeer, or shout things i don't understand at me, rather than getting paranoid, fearful, angry, or withdrawn, I'll make eye contact, smile, and wave or bow or whatever.
2) LAUGH-- As i adapt to a totally new culture and way of life, many things i do (or try to do and fail spectacularly at...) will be funny to those around me. People regularly laugh at my attempts to eat with just the fingers of the right hand; at my efforts toward speaking Malayalam. And i'll grant that the sight of a grown man from the world's great superpower struggling to get rice from the plate to his mouth is probably nigh hilarious. So I have to remember to not take myself too seriously and always be willing to see myself as other see me and to laugh at that image when it's amusing.
3) BE GRATEFUL-- No matter how bad things seem, or how hard they get, or how much I'm struggling, I need to find something to be grateful for. If i ever get sick of my room, I need to remember that there are those very nearby (maybe a couple hundred meters) who don't have a private room or a bed or electricity or a bathroom with running water. Even in this small room, I am very fortunate and privileged to have the living situation I do, and I can't forget that. If i ever get tired of the food here, I need to remember those (also very nearby) who get less to eat in an entire day than i do at one meal, and be thankful for the food that i get. No matter how bad things get, there's always something to be thankful for. And these reflections should also be jumping off points for offering whatever i can of my time, resources, and self to those nearby people.
posted by Andy at 8:06 PM
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