40+FAB Blog

It’s how you feel

Would you ever consider someone spitting at you anything but an outright insulting, hateful and disgusting act?

As a young boy, I was quite curious about the weird and wonderful things of life, and I spent many hours reading encyclopaedias, learning about animals and cultures of different countries. I came across a tradition of the Maasai tribe of Kenya, and for them, spitting is a sign of respect. It is done to greet each other, to welcome or bid farewell to a friend, to clinch a bargain and to wish someone good luck.

If someone from the Maasai tribe spat at you, you would most likely feel really disgusted and insulted, and if you spat back at them in annoyance, they would possibly feel welcomed and accepted.

So, based on what we have been exposed to and what we have learnt as right or wrong, we interpret what happens to us and react to it according to the way we feel about it.

Why not pause and take stock of how you feel about the actions of others towards you, interrogating your reasons for feeling that way. If you take responsibility for your feelings, then you would be able to see more clearly the action of others for what it is and not for what you think it is.