During a time when escaping to another continent isn’t possible, I decided to bring the eye-opening moments I experienced on my previous adventures to you, so you don’t have to leave your cozy home. Here is your one-way ticket to a better way of living with 12 life lessons, courtesy of Africa.
It’s been a minute since we’ve been anywhere exciting like a Safari (although my house feels like a zoo lately, does that count?). We traveled to Tanzania and Zambia on a family Safari last December. (Click here to watch highlight videos). Prior to our trip, everyone I spoke to warned me excitedly that the experience would be life-changing. While I was open to and eager for another adventure, how much shifting could this trip bring? Little did I know I would later be struck with an emotional cleansing and a brand-new perspective on life. Three weeks in these magical places and I was reborn.
Have you ever been to therapy? Lately, I’ve been doing some EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.) It’s basically where you recall a past memory, then work to heal those memories and learn from them. In parallel, I’ve been doing the opposite too: recalling inspiring past memories, extracting the magic, and applying it in the present. I have been chasing the light these days instead of replaying a negative narrative. If you have too been stuck, I hope that some of these life lessons might help inspire you.
In hopes of offering great insights, I’m opening my heart and personal journal to almost exactly one year ago while on Safari with my family. As we sat in an open-air jeep and watched nature’s story unfold, I found myself utterly absorbed in the silence while mesmerized by the lessons the local people, cheetahs, and leopards taught me. Lions, tigers, and bearing through life! Oh my!
While I suppose I could elaborate about what the lessons below meant for me, I’d rather keep them short and sweet so you can contemplate how they apply to you. As we all reflect on the end of 2020, may we reminisce about the good as well as the bad. The blessings as well as the hardships. The beauty and not just the ugly. The hope without any regret.
Life Lessons From The Wild
1. It’s Not About Being Seen, It’s About Seeing
2. Happiness can coexist with hardship
3. Life is about us, not me
4. Complain less and appreciate more
5. One must stay quiet to listen
6. Be clear about who your enemies and friends are
7. We can all live on less than we need
8. Patience builds character and makes you nicer
9. Productivity isn’t about being busy every waking moment
10. Simple food is as satisfying as complex
11. Who’s rich? The one who is happy with his lot
12. God’s world is magnificent
