Perspective
I anticipated my first blog posting in a long time, and in South Africa for the World Cup, to be all about vuvuzelas, sport, and cheer. While I have no doubt that there will be much of this to come, my first tale on the journey revolves around the idea of perspective.
First of all, I arrived safe and, relatively, sound last night (time difference being 8 hours ahead of those in Colorado). After over 26 hours of arduous travel I set down in Cape Town ready to get to my hostel and sleep. I gathered my backpack and set off to find a cab. While walking towards the airport exit I was approached by a man asking if I needed a ride. I told him I did, showed him where I was headed, and, after a bit of price bargaining, headed to his van. I felt a tad uneasy about taking the first transport offer I received, but the guy seemed nice enough, and I was far too deliriously tired to rethink my decision.
The ride took about 20 uneventful minutes filled with mundane chatter about weather and how busy the World Cup had made things. Upon arriving at my hostel I handed him 200 Rand for the agreed upon price of 150 Rand. Well, of course, he didn't have change, which I should have anticipated. So, the driver suggests I run into a local convenience store to buy something and get change. He pulled up to a nearby store, I hopped out, bought water, received change, and gave him exact payment - all of which took about two minutes. I grabbed my stuff and headed into the hostel. Feeling something was amiss I quickly checked my carry-on to ensure I had all my entertainment goods. I checked the first pocket and instantly realized that my iPod and two pairs of headphones were gone.
Please allow me to step on my soapbox for a moment. I could have gone one of two directions: 1) I could have been angry at the world for doing this to me, or 2) I could have shook my head and laughed at my stupidity for leaving my things unattended. Both of these choices depend a great deal on perspective. I settled on the latter. I knew that bringing my iPod was not the wisest decision. I knew that leaving my things unguarded was lazy and stupid. I had no one to blame but myself. Of course, if I find the driver of that orange fan I'm sure I can find some blame to pass his way.
Persepctive. To quote the Tao Te Ching, "The more wealth you possess the harder it is to protect." While I don't have my tunes for the next several weeks, I am alive, in great shape, and ready to embrace the atmosphere of the World Cup. I will try to attend better to my possessions, but realize that when they are taken they can be replaced, or not. I will step down from the soapbox.
I'm now setting off to explore Cape Town and that it has to offer. I'm looking forward to cheering loudly for Les Lions as they take on Denmark tonight, and extremely excited about all that exploring a new land offers.
Lastly, I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to anyone who is reading this. I emplore you to take a moment to think about your persepctive and how it impacts your worldview. Will you stay angry at the world or laugh off the challenges and embrace difficulty?
First of all, I arrived safe and, relatively, sound last night (time difference being 8 hours ahead of those in Colorado). After over 26 hours of arduous travel I set down in Cape Town ready to get to my hostel and sleep. I gathered my backpack and set off to find a cab. While walking towards the airport exit I was approached by a man asking if I needed a ride. I told him I did, showed him where I was headed, and, after a bit of price bargaining, headed to his van. I felt a tad uneasy about taking the first transport offer I received, but the guy seemed nice enough, and I was far too deliriously tired to rethink my decision.
The ride took about 20 uneventful minutes filled with mundane chatter about weather and how busy the World Cup had made things. Upon arriving at my hostel I handed him 200 Rand for the agreed upon price of 150 Rand. Well, of course, he didn't have change, which I should have anticipated. So, the driver suggests I run into a local convenience store to buy something and get change. He pulled up to a nearby store, I hopped out, bought water, received change, and gave him exact payment - all of which took about two minutes. I grabbed my stuff and headed into the hostel. Feeling something was amiss I quickly checked my carry-on to ensure I had all my entertainment goods. I checked the first pocket and instantly realized that my iPod and two pairs of headphones were gone.
Please allow me to step on my soapbox for a moment. I could have gone one of two directions: 1) I could have been angry at the world for doing this to me, or 2) I could have shook my head and laughed at my stupidity for leaving my things unattended. Both of these choices depend a great deal on perspective. I settled on the latter. I knew that bringing my iPod was not the wisest decision. I knew that leaving my things unguarded was lazy and stupid. I had no one to blame but myself. Of course, if I find the driver of that orange fan I'm sure I can find some blame to pass his way.
Persepctive. To quote the Tao Te Ching, "The more wealth you possess the harder it is to protect." While I don't have my tunes for the next several weeks, I am alive, in great shape, and ready to embrace the atmosphere of the World Cup. I will try to attend better to my possessions, but realize that when they are taken they can be replaced, or not. I will step down from the soapbox.
I'm now setting off to explore Cape Town and that it has to offer. I'm looking forward to cheering loudly for Les Lions as they take on Denmark tonight, and extremely excited about all that exploring a new land offers.
Lastly, I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to anyone who is reading this. I emplore you to take a moment to think about your persepctive and how it impacts your worldview. Will you stay angry at the world or laugh off the challenges and embrace difficulty?
posted by Eric Jones at 3:53 AM
1 Comments:
Hi hi Eric, I love this entry!! Glad to hear you arrived safe and sound, albeit sans ipod. Look at it as an adventure, even in the face of getting your stuff stolen. Enjoy the World Cup, I am super envious you are there!
-Annie
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