Choose a new attitude
Sometimes when we are in Dharamsala, we meet with Dr Lobsang Sangay, the Tibetan Prime Minister and a Harvard Law graduate, now in his fifties. Dr Sangay moved from the USA to India in 2009 in order to become the first Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile.
During one of our meetings with Dr Sangay, someone asked him if he had to sacrifice a lot moving from Boston to Dharamsala. With a PhD from Harvard you can only imagine what kind of success was waiting for him in corporate America! Jokingly, he answered: “I gave up Starbucks frappe-chinos for Dharamsala.” And anyone who has been to India will know what he means.
However, he turned serious and revealed his truth, which I will never forget for as long as I live. He said: “I’m not making a sacrifice, I’m making a contribution.”
With this one simple statement, Dr Sangay points to the most powerful ability we have to change the way we look at life – our attitude. His attitude to make a contribution, to make a difference, rather than to make a sacrifice is potentially life changing and most definitely life enriching.
Hardship with no clear reason why, devoid of any meaning, is mindless suffering. That is despair. But suffering or hardship with a reason why, can be meaningful. As humans, we have the ability to re-orientate our attitude and change the way we look at things. And we are able to turn mindless suffering into a purposeful quest for meaning if we understand the reasons why. Like Nietzsche said about 150 years ago “He who has a strong enough why, can withstand any how.”
This is the kind of stuff we talk about on the trips to Dharamsala. Our next journey is from 20 to 30 March 2018 and we are open for bookings. Please let us know if you or someone you know is interested to join us.
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klasie@streetschool.co.za
10 Repens Street, Paradyskloof,
Stellenbosch, 7600
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Get in touch
klasie@streetschool.co.za
10 Repens Street, Paradyskloof,
Stellenbosch, 7600