By Brady Zoll

Today gave me two things to think about: perspective and finding the good in the bad.

When I was leader of the day, we broke up into two groups and headed out to explore the area by boat.  My group was focused on snorkeling and seeing the local islands (with a little bit of fishing).  We took a break at a remote beach for lunch.  Suddenly, it was pouring rain.  When the clouds parted, we walked on the beach for a few minutes looking at the crystal clear water.  While we were walking back to the boat, a small group of people asked to take pictures with us. I figured there was some misunderstanding and that they wanted us to take pictures of them on their vacation.  But soon it was clear that they wanted to take pictures with us.  At first, I thought it was because, as a white person in India, I was something unusual for them to see. I haven’t seen any other white people here in India, so I figure it was an unimaginable sight.  Seeing them notice us so much made me really feel how different I am from the people around me.  The experience made me think about how much our perspective depends on where we are. At home, I rarely think about standing out, but here I am suddenly aware of how different I appear. It reminded me that “everyone is ordinary in one place and extraordinary in another” (Quoted from a lot of people) What seems normal to us may be fascinating to someone else because they have never experienced it before. 

Later in the day, the weather changed completely. The passing rain was suddenly a downpour, which made the ride back uncomfortable as it pelted against us while the boat moved through the water, don’t ask me why but it hurt WAY more than larger rain droplets. At first, it felt like the rain was ruining an otherwise somewhat great day. It started while we were fishing and we tried to escape the rain by going back to the beach, but the storm kept growing.  The rain became a Zeus-like force.  We all huddled together in the small amount of available shelter on the boat.  As I sat shivering and talking about everything we had seen, I realized was talking to people I had barely spoken to before that day. Some of the best conversations of the trip happened during the worst weather.  Again, it’s a matter of perspective.

Looking back, the rain seems symbolic. “In life, we often see challenges as obstacles that stopping us from enjoying ourselves. Yet many of the most meaningful moments happen because of those challenges, not in spite of them.” If the weather had stayed perfect, I might never have had those conversations or formed those connections. The rain did not make the day worse, it just changed it. Sometimes what seems like a setback in the moment can end up becoming the reason a day is memorable in the first place. This experience reminded me that you can always find the good in the bad. We cannot always control the rain, but we can choose what we make of it.