"It's not only what you know, it's who you know"

Louay With an Indian Guru in the Himalayas

There are some people you sort of bumped into in the course of your life that, often without noticing, change your route... Like a strong wind redressing the shape of a tree. They take you for a ride in their own path and make you see the world from a different seat... You feel so comfortable that you see no good in wearing a seat belt and there you are taken to discover the wonders of the world. It's not only what you know, it's who you know. I am not talking here about what we usually call "Daddy's friend, or Dad knows somebody influential"; It's about people you surround yourself with, it's a matter of who you go out to see every afternoon, who you hang out with or, better, who you invest time with and why.. in order to get something from them? Or simply for their company, for their joy of life, for their positive attitude, for their secret hidden magnificent energy that gets into you and makes you (feel) better. So it's up to you. You don't often just bump into them at the end. You wish it was that easy!

I hear a lot of people saying, "Well, you know it's hard to find nice/interesting people these days." "Oh what are you talking about, do they even exist?" Then they sit and wait for them to appear, for their guardian angel to show up from the skies and bring blessings to them. Hello, easy come easy go. Now, if diamonds were to sort of dig their way out of the ground in Africa, people wouldn't spend time, half of the body in the mud looking for them, aching their backs and brain in the process. But they know where they are, they know where to look and what they are looking for. Do you know where to look for people? In bars? Buses? Restaurants? Facebook? It's really about where you put yourself, the opportunity to meet this kind of incredible people is out there, and you only need to book your rendezvous.

I have been myself putting several experiences as a priority, digging for such people who challenge everything and are challenge, who question the mere existence of the least noticeable phenomena, which would, one way or another, shape my personality. I have done quite a lot of travelling around, social work, volunteering... and during certain trips in the most deprived regions in Morocco for instance, I have met diamond people. During these experiences you meet people who have developed certain sensitivity, and this, for me, is a key word.

When we're sensitive in the sense that something or somebody triggers a certain feeling inside, we are more likely to take action. So violence makes us sensitive, injustice makes us sensitive, poverty makes us sensitive, sensitive enough to counter-attack, to fight against poverty, to offer help, to speak about injustice, to serve a cause; also sensitive towards positive things, people like that see the beauty in every aspect of life. Everything triggers a certain emotion, because they are aware of its impermanence and transience. They embrace nature, they say what they think, they say thank you, sorry and they mean it. They look at the cup "fully full". 

They flip a tragedy into a moral story, a mistake into a lesson, pain and suffering into humility and tolerance. Many people hide their emotions and their sensitivity, as a means most probably to "protect themselves" from the outside world they usually refrain from doing stuff, new stuff, from being involved in things outside their comfort zone.

Be with people who defy conventionality, who are courageous to talk about the unsaid, to raise questions, to make mistakes, to dare doing new stuff every time, those crazy enough to see life as a set of opportunities  and moments to grab and grasp.

Be with people who are careless to fit in, who are weird enough not to cope with the conventional life path, not to consider  everybody's opinion, those who instead of wondering when their next holiday would be in order to escape their realities, build a life they don't have to run away from, a life that suits their aspirations and dreams, be with people who know how to appreciate themselves, want to discover more of who they are by experiencing new, weird, risky, challenging stuff every time, who redefine their limits by continuously stretching them, be with people who make jokes about themselves, who laugh about their own downfalls and take the challenge to work on them, be with those wonderful people who challenge the status-quo, who do not wish to fit into boxes. Be with people who know why they do what they do, those who want to serve a cause, to solve a problem, to help a community, those who share a lot even if (especially when) they don't have much, be with people who see life as an adventure, a happy adventure, an orgasmic release of positive energy.

So who do you want to be with? Who would you look up to be around? Who do you invest time and energy being around?

It's up to you!

-By Louay Benaabdelaali

Visit the Atlantic Post Blog daily for more blog posts on international perspectives.

Follow us on Twitter @TheAtlanticPost.
Like our page on Facebook