Friday, August 23, 2013

note to self: do not miss the bus

I missed it today by one minute, which is why I'm now sitting at the bus stop writing this. Swiss buses are always -- always -- on time, meaning that they leave one minute or less after they arrive and if you're 30 seconds too late the bus will have cheerfully departed without you on it.
I would like to say that I immediately resolved to be on time for everything and never to miss anything in my schedule ever again. 
I didn't. 
Instead, after 3 minutes of hoping against hope that the bus was late and 2 minutes of inspecting the bus schedule to verify that the next bus was, indeed, 29 minutes later, I sat down and began to complain. Not out loud, mind you. It was in my head -- and what a lot of complaining I did! In 15 minutes I had blamed the bus, my village, the time on my cell phone, the class time change, the day, my shoes, my alarm clock, and the transit system in general. I'm very efficient that way.
And then I realized. 
You see, in Rotary the consistent thing they tell you is that it's your exchange. Yours and nobody else's.
And many times before today, I'd appreciated that the buses came and left on time, that there was always a connection, that I never had to doubt the train system or the consistency of the bus. And so, if I miss the bus, it's my own responsibility, my own fault.  
Mine and nobody else's.  
And as I stepped onto the bus and sat down, I realized just how ridiculously selfish I was being. Everything that I was complaining about was a gift: the class, the teacher, my cell phone, my village, the day, the GA for the transit system, and way more. And all of those were a part of one big undeserved gift -- the fact that I was on exchange. In Switzerland, no less. 
 ...
And so that's what I've been telling myself today. That every day is a discovery, that every hour is a gift, because I am in SWITZERLAND, on my foreign exchange. 
Mine, 
and nobody else's.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the reminder that complaining doesn't do a blessed thing for me or anyone else! And having gratitude goes a long way. (-:
    Praying for you and enjoying your blog.
    Ruth

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  2. Ummmm....that would be the adult Ruth (-:

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    Replies
    1. Haha, thanks! I'm glad it provided a reminder.
      and thanks for the clarification... the first thing I thought was actually "my sister commented on my blog?" :P I'm sure I would have figured it out in a couple seconds, though.

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  3. Hi Hannah, thanks for the updates on your blog! It's fun to walk through your experience and what your learning on your adventure away from home.

    Blessings!

    Uncle Joe :)

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    1. Hi Uncle Joe!
      yay, I'm glad you like it! Tell Auntie Amy and G and Mikay-kay hello for me :) Do they like Swiss chocolate??

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