While I was in Delhi, India. last month I was overwhelmed by the living conditions of so many people. Their accommodations reminded me of how I live when I am camping except my situation is extremely temporary, by choice, and in the wilderness. Theirs is permanent, existential, and in a crowded urban landscape. What is similar is the elemental nature of our supplies and shelter. Then there is my privilege…
While in Delhi I was overtaken by how differently so many people lived. What I saw was so foreign to my way of life, that I was fully engaged with taking it in and did very little processing; ie, coping with what it meant to me. It was only after I had been back for a bit, about a week, when the circumstances of my life began to wash over me like waves, making me feel both the fortune and the base inequity of my circumstances.
My heart says to me, “There but for the grace of God go I.” We are all born into circumstances we do not choose. The special advantages granted to me by my life circumstances now stand out in bold relief as I go about my regular day, from morning meditation to evening thoughts and all that happens between.
Given such an advantage, how do I choose to live my life on this day? What will I do that only I can do? When and how will I do it? These are questions that live in me, standing up in stark relief in response to my experiences in India.
“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.”
– Tony Robbins
