Rural India is truly incredible India.  Once I left the city area, the rural area of India is no different from rural Europe, North America or even Australia.  It didn’t feel like I was in a country with over a billion people and where quite surprisingly, I felt incredibly comfortable.

Sure, electricity has a mind of it’s own … ok, the electrical company is the one at fault for this and I can’t run to a store to get something but there’s something about the simplicity in rural India that was quietly refreshing.  The lack of an insane rush to acquire a designer chair or matching cushion covers made me take a step back in my own rush to acquire in life.  Don’t get me wrong, once I get my own place, I’m pretty sure I want it to reflect who my husband and I are.  Post India though, I’m reminded about what makes a home, sharing a space with love and laughter and a place you want to go to at the end of the day … even if I didn’t have the quirky cushion covers or that floor to ceiling bookshelf I want, I can choose to keep it all simple and still have a happy home.

That said though, I don’t understand Hindi and was only in India for 2 months so I can’t say I truly know how the average Indian in rural India lives, thinks, wants or desires.  Maybe God meant that keep-it-simple takeaway just for me … and that’s what I think my true lesson from India is – there’s much more in this universe that I don’t even know about, let alone understand.  Mine isn’t to fight relentlessly but to keep learning.  In India, a prayer that is core to my family rang even more true and now, post India, I can say I’m slowly beginning to appreciate the essence of it so much more.

Lord grant me
the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change,
the STRENGTH to change the thing I can and
the WISDOM to know the difference.