Tilling, watering and watching myself grow

I’ve been to paradise once…or so they say.

I was actually on vacation somewhere at a very beautiful and delightful location. Literally detoxifying. The landscape. The ocean. The sunrise and sunset. The food. The soothing sounds of nature. Then someone from the group I was with informed me that he feels like he’s been here for months already, after having been there only 4 or 5 days, because he knows all about the locals drama.

It was like a ding on my forehead. And I started to notice it too. The haggling of the proprietor over payments due. The kitchen’s aid survival issue over reliable transportation to and from work. The group’s participant’s domestic issues etc. etc. etc. I asked myself, how can one be in paradise and still be miserable?

I realized that no matter how much people blame their circumstances and no matter how much they claim that it’s the environment that causes them to be a certain way, it is truly only who they are themselves that makes them “suffer” in paradise. Since I had that realization, I make it a point to enjoy myself to the fullest of my capabilities. Obviously it’s not perfect, since certain situations will always require me to be around things and people that don’t necessarily fall into what I enjoy.

But it broadened my horizon to such an extend that what used to irritate me, draining my energy over the course of the day, is now part of the background scenery of my daily life. I can’t change many things. I can definitely not change people. I could change my location but regardless of my residence, the issues will follow me, if I let them. So I am still remodeling my environment to allow myself to come into full fruition.