Sunday, September 1, 2013

Start with Lucky

Living the long-time dream of standing on top of Machu Picchu, August 15,2013. How did I get so lucky?
Louis Pastuer said it like this: "Fortune favors the prepared mind." And as I observed in my travels across the Peruvian high plains, being prepared is just a start - it doesn't hurt to be born in the USA. 
 
Here are the gifts I brought back from my 8 day journey in Peru.
 
1. People are the same in more ways than we are different. We all value family and loved ones, we need to have adequate work for housing and food, and we enjoy smiles and laughter. Our group was served dinner in the home of a village taxi driver. The house was built by the grandmother's father - stone walls, dirt floor, cooking fire in the corner, one weak light bulb, and a table long enough to seat 12 filled the room. We ate lavishly their typical celebration foods: corn and potato in several forms, stuffed peppers, quinoa, and cuy/guinea pig. There was such a warmth and hospitality as the 18 year old son spoke with us about their family life.

2. The foreign country I've seen in books and video is so much more than flat images and simplified stereotypical ideas. The air, the mountains, the earth; the people, animals, and plants; the history, culture, and political landscape are more complex and fascinating than I could have imagined. Travel reminds me that every country is more than a different color area on the map - countries are alive. Knowing that fact intellectually is one thing, being there is quite another.

3. Comparing my worst day living as an American with the best day of a Peruvian farmer or moto-taxi driver, I am incredibly blessed. It is more than I can describe here, but it includes peace and safety, healthcare and abundance of life's basic needs, clean air, good transportation, running water and flush toilets, and an incredible amount of independence, interdependence, and opportunity for anyone willing to go for it. And social caring and awareness for those unable to do it alone.

Again I ask myself, how did I get so lucky? 
 
No excuses for me. Take Charge -- Get Moving! Anything is possible.
Love and light,
Diane

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