Adaptation

Holiday time is over...which means back to the village and back to reality. There are benefits – I can finally stop living out of a suitcase and the strain on my pocketbook has somewhat lessened – but there are also drawbacks – the loss of my cherished solitude and diminished dining choices, as well as dealing with bad cell phone reception. After my initial delight to be back home, I went through a bit of a mourning period. During this time of reflection, I became acutely aware of the amazing human ability to adapt.

Maybe I’m going a bit far by attributing this quality only to humans, but it really is amazing. What was once shocking and abnormal quickly becomes regular and expected. There’s a long list of things that I once thought of as scary or strange; now that list is simply titled “The Way Things Are Done.”

In most cases, this ability to adapt is a good thing. For example, if I didn’t get used to everyday things – like taking cold showers, being stared at in the street, finding a random ride into to town or scheduling my day around the movement of the sun – my body would be under so much stress it would simply stop functioning.

With the good comes the bad, however. There are now things – like a lack of accountability for teachers, working in a school with insufficient materials, or watching people living in unsanitary conditions - that don’t surprise me anymore. I should be extremely concerned when learners are beating up on each other in the schoolyard, but it happens so often that I’ve simply become desensitized to the issue.

In the end, whether it is positive or negative, the ability to adapt is a necessary part of life. The world around us is always changing and we must change with it or risk being left behind. I can only hope that the majority of the adjustments I’ve made (conserving water, growing some of my own food, being patient and flexible) will benefit me in the future.