Man in the mirror

Sitting on my couch, wrapped in a cozy blanked and benefit from the fact that I can enjoy my beautiful apartment all by myself after having taken a long shower and listening to some nice and smooth Caribbean sound. Small things that I never thought I‘ll be very thankful for. But after weeks on a boat with great company, everyday sunshine, stunning and deserted beaches and the sea wherever I looked to, it’s those things I started to appreciate more than ever. How to sum up the last few weeks? All the impressions, experiences and lessons learnt thanks to an unforgettable adventure in the Caribbean. Let me try…

…the world looks different on this side of the world. And I start to realize that it’s not only the people the nature and the culture that is different. It’s me who has a different attitude and perspective on things. I did things I never thought I could do... I’m impressed by the nature more than when I’m in my home country. The sea with all his beautiful and divers residents. The power of that nature, and how weak and dependent human beings are compared to it. Locals can live thanks to what nature offers them. When they don’t catch any fish or when there’s any natural disaster they have real problems. But this fact doesn’t prevent them from being happy and content with what they have. Their chatting, playing and dancing on the street showed me how simple life can be.

Here on my side of the world I often forget about that fact. During my holidays where I was confronted with the daily challenges of only having a certain amount of water to live with, trying to catch a fish to have more than just rice, potatoes and vegetables for dinner every day, and being dependent on the wind to carry us “home” I realized how small I am and this made me think of how even smaller my problems therefore are. Walking through streets feeling like an alien because for the locals I’m the “rich white” who can afford things they don’t even dare to dream of. A boy who‘s not allowed to go to school because his mother doesn’t want him to get in touch with the “white values”. All this impressions made me thoughtful.

Who says what’s right or wrong? Who says what’s bad and what’s good? And finally who decides or helps people to be happy. NOTHING and NOBODY else than yourself. You can’t change the world but you can change your attitude and perspectives.

This conclusion it’s not new to me. It’s written in so many books, vlogs and quotes of famous writers. But there’s a difference between reading and understanding it (and most people haven’t even reached that state of mind) and to really experience it.

We, the “rich white” are not richer because we can afford nice cars, luxurious juwellery or big houses, but because we can think and do whatever we want to think and do. Furthermore, we have the possibility to compare and discuss different mindsets instead of dealing with daily problems like getting enough to eat. We don’t HAVE TO accept things as they are, we CAN do things as we want them to be.

And that’s exactly what I want to live and appreciate more day by day. In other words: By sailing with the wind, I let him blow away all the incriminating thoughts from the last months and I made space for new wind in my life. A positive wind that pushes me to follow MY values and say goodbye to situations and people who don’t appreciate, consider and respect my effort and values.

Hence I would like to share Michael Jackson's song "Man in the mirror" with you. Nothing new but it now has a slightly different and personal meaning to me.