A healthy attitude

During my short visit to Bali, I treasured the company of the local people – we have so much to learn from many of them and their way of live.

What stood out most was how in general they were

grateful not greedy

in their moment not their worries

patient not aggressive

smiling not angry

helpful not selfish

Even in what we would consider challenging and frustrating situations; such as being caught in traffic, having excessive demands placed on us, being at the whim of inclement weather and environmental disasters – they did what they had to do with little fuss – nothing seemed too much trouble.

It was a few days into our trip, when we faced the possibility of being grounded due to the volcanic ash situation in Indonesia that it dawned on me how in times of uncertainty and unrest, our attitude is the most powerful tool we have to survive.

How we react, act and engage when things don’t go as we assume they ‘should’ – do we stress out, get angry, be accepting or seek alternatives?

So how do we arrive at a healthy attitude in unrest and trouble?

I suppose it depends on where our attitude operates from – is it only about us, our self – our position, or do we see ‘the collective position of all others’ and can we consider earth’s position and perspective?

I feel the more we are faced with events that emphasise the vulnerability of our life existence the more we begin to get that it’s not just about us as individuals.

So rather than staying entrenched in ‘poor me’ or ‘it shouldn’t happen’ we can move with less fuss to play other roles and contribute differently.

From this attitude we may become better equipped to adapt and survive what lies ahead.

And let’s face it the worlds’ environmental, political, social and financial challenges will require it!

So maybe if we prepare our body, mind and spirit to be fit, flexible and adaptive, we may adopt like the people of Bali, approaches that bring calm amongst the chaos.