My Journey Towards Understanding Positivity

* I wrote this a few days ago while in South Africa and didn’t have the opportunity to post it there. After I looked at it I decided it was best as an authentic thought, so I haven’t changed much from the first draft.*

It’s a pretty uncommon thing for me to talk about the trait of being positive. I do acknowledge the importance of determining your attitude and making it a solid one, but the simple fact of the matter is that some of my teammates are kind of better suited to talk about positivity, and it’s not something I always do a great job of exhibiting. However, I recently had a really cool opportunity to view how much control we have over our attitude, and I feel like it’s important to share with  you all.

If you haven’t been keeping up with your friendly neighborhood State Officers and our activities, I’ll catch you up to speed real quick by saying that we’ve spent the last several days in the country of South Africa. This experience has been truly wonderful, and every day that we’ve been here we’ve been blessed to see new sights, meet wonderful people, and have a unique experience. Today, however, we did something a touch different than our normal schedule. For the past several days, we’d been mostly participating in tours of wildlife and agricultural facilities, with most social interactions with South Africa’s population taking place during gas station stops, the tours, and free time in fairly high-income areas. Along the side of the road we’d seen a population that lived a lifestyle we truly couldn’t understand. Small communities of makeshift homes that were hand-built from lumber, corrugated metal, and various other materials could be found almost anywhere. We saw communities where water was sourced from community pumps, electricity was a luxury, and air conditioning was a major, major luxury, not the norm. The closest we’d gotten to one of these communities was the bus window.

Today, however, we ventured into one of these communities. Kayamundi, on the outskirts of Stellenbosch. A local lady led us around the community, pointing out how happy she was to have so many kids in school. She talked about the jobs that people could find there as she conversed with other locals and they all welcomed this huge group of outsiders with a smile. Every person we passed waved and smiled. The children at the preschool went absolutely crazy when they saw us, and shouted “teacher” at us for a solid minute before the ladies in charge called us over to meet the children. The young kids proudly sang all the songs they’d been taught in english, spent some time talking excitedly, then waved an enthusiastic goodbye as we moved on. We went inside one of those makeshift homes, and our guide pointed out how much of a home it truly was on the inside. She showed us where they would cook, clean, sleep, and spend time together. We’d then snake our way through the neighborhood and she would remark how beautiful their view of the mountains was. We ate lunch at the home of a stranger who housed other people from out of the country that came to teach, and it was wonderful. Our hostess attempted to teach us songs in Xhosa, but I’ll admit to not being quite that skilled in that area.

All throughout this tour, I was never stricken by the difference in my material situation and their own. What affected me was the attitude that these people seemed to have about what was truly their community. I never heard about how bad they had it, how tough their lives where, and how hard they had to work. I heard about how they saw things constantly getting better. I was shown how much these people valued each other, and utilized their unity to make the best of their circumstances. I saw a people who were willing to look at their reality and be happy, not because they didn’t understand their circumstances, but because they knew how to be happy with the lives they led. The community of Kayamundi showed me what it truly means to have a positive attitude. It’s not about ignoring your reality, but choosing to see the best in it. If I can bring a little bit of this home with me, then this trip will have changed me tremendously for the better.

Jacob Grinstead,

Kansas FFA Reporter