This little guy caught my eye as I walked through a favela (slum) in Southern Brazil a couple of years ago. I was captivated by the look on his face. Despite what I considered filthy, wretched conditions surrounding him, he seemed to be content.
After snapping his picture, I reviewed it, zooming in on his face. At that point something else caught my eye – it was the curtain hanging above his head. Having grown up in Brazil, I knew immediately the story behind that curtain. People in South America knot the bottom of curtains when cleaning their houses – it keeps the hem off the floor.
Now the look on the little boy’s face began to make sense. Despite the squalor that surrounded his house, his home was clean. It reminded me of a desert oasis offering hope in an otherwise desolate landscape. His mother or grandmother – I can only guess who looks after him – refused to let the outside environment invade the environment of their home.
What a great life lesson I walked away with that day: don’t let conditions you cannot control influence conditions you can control.
Question: What uncontrollable situation in your life are you allowing to control the rest of your life?
Missions with Mike 