KC HillReflections
September 7th 2008 12:43
In life, we make many mistakes, and some of us wish we could change the things we have done. Personally, I wouldn’t change anything I have done, because all the experiences in my life have made me who I am.
Most people seem to live their lives hoping for something better. I have grown to live on a philosophy of “learn from the past, live in the present, and hope for the future.”
It wasn’t always this way. I grew up in rural Australia, in a small city that resembled Groundhog Day. Actually, it still does.
I was away from the town for almost ten years, and returned to see the same old men sitting outside the mall. The same old faces were in the same old pubs. And the town elders were still arguing that the only way the town could survive was to convince the government to reopen the railway workshops.
Nothing had changed in the ten years I had been away, nor the ten years prior to my leaving, for that matter.
In my travels around Australia and the world, I have seen many communities embrace the incredible changes that are going on in the world. They progress with time, and evolve in step with the world.
Others set themselves above the mainstream, and become leaders in their own right. Armidale in New South Wales is synonymous with higher education. Bathurst is renowned for its car race each year. And Tamworth is world famous for its country music festival.
Yet my home town, like most rural areas in Australia, has failed to come to grips with the modern world. They want things to be the same as they were fifty years ago, and never change. They have spent the last fifty years watching industry and government services being taken out of the town.
Instead of finding alternatives to replace it, they simply spend the limited resources they have trying to force the return of the lost businesses and services.
I also find that most people tend to be at least some way like this. They don’t like change.
Looking back, I realise now that I was exactly the same when I lived in the town. Sure, I love being there, and meeting up with family and old friends.
But I have had the chance to reflect while I have travelled the world. While I was living in my home town, I realise now that, like most people there, I was cut off from the changes going on in the rest of the world.
Sure, we knew they were happening, but we convinced ourselves they didn’t affect us. We were happy just to try to isolate ourselves.
The poet John Donne wrote words that I now accept as a major force in guiding my life: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Yet too many people, and the communities they live in, try to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. To deny the changes that are going on.
With such denials, the individuals and communities fail to grow as people and part of a wider society.
I have come to terms with who I am, and have been able to accept the short comings I have, while still recognising the achievements I have made. By taking both of these into account, I am able to make solid plans for my future, but allow for flexibility due to unforeseen circumstances.
I have told my stories to many around the world. Some are stories about me, others are stories about the incredibly strong and brave people I have met who have overcome unbelievable hardship to make better lives for themselves and their communities.
Such stories are positive, others are negative. The one thing about all these stories is that each and every one of them is an experience that has helped form me as a person.
And be it good or bad, I wouldn’t change a thing that has ever happened to me, because I am quite happy with who I am.
More stories by this author after the following important information
Most people seem to live their lives hoping for something better. I have grown to live on a philosophy of “learn from the past, live in the present, and hope for the future.”
It wasn’t always this way. I grew up in rural Australia, in a small city that resembled Groundhog Day. Actually, it still does.
I was away from the town for almost ten years, and returned to see the same old men sitting outside the mall. The same old faces were in the same old pubs. And the town elders were still arguing that the only way the town could survive was to convince the government to reopen the railway workshops.
Nothing had changed in the ten years I had been away, nor the ten years prior to my leaving, for that matter.
In my travels around Australia and the world, I have seen many communities embrace the incredible changes that are going on in the world. They progress with time, and evolve in step with the world.
Others set themselves above the mainstream, and become leaders in their own right. Armidale in New South Wales is synonymous with higher education. Bathurst is renowned for its car race each year. And Tamworth is world famous for its country music festival.
Yet my home town, like most rural areas in Australia, has failed to come to grips with the modern world. They want things to be the same as they were fifty years ago, and never change. They have spent the last fifty years watching industry and government services being taken out of the town.
Instead of finding alternatives to replace it, they simply spend the limited resources they have trying to force the return of the lost businesses and services.
I also find that most people tend to be at least some way like this. They don’t like change.
Looking back, I realise now that I was exactly the same when I lived in the town. Sure, I love being there, and meeting up with family and old friends.
But I have had the chance to reflect while I have travelled the world. While I was living in my home town, I realise now that, like most people there, I was cut off from the changes going on in the rest of the world.
Sure, we knew they were happening, but we convinced ourselves they didn’t affect us. We were happy just to try to isolate ourselves.
The poet John Donne wrote words that I now accept as a major force in guiding my life: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Yet too many people, and the communities they live in, try to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. To deny the changes that are going on.
With such denials, the individuals and communities fail to grow as people and part of a wider society.
I have come to terms with who I am, and have been able to accept the short comings I have, while still recognising the achievements I have made. By taking both of these into account, I am able to make solid plans for my future, but allow for flexibility due to unforeseen circumstances.
I have told my stories to many around the world. Some are stories about me, others are stories about the incredibly strong and brave people I have met who have overcome unbelievable hardship to make better lives for themselves and their communities.
Such stories are positive, others are negative. The one thing about all these stories is that each and every one of them is an experience that has helped form me as a person.
And be it good or bad, I wouldn’t change a thing that has ever happened to me, because I am quite happy with who I am.
More stories by this author after the following important information
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