This article describes the author's experience on a missionary trip as a young person, riding in the back-facing seat of a van and seeing the landscape from a different perspective than the other passengers. Looking backward gave the author a new view and made them think about life's uncertainties and the importance of vision. Later, the author compares this experience to sometimes needing to adopt an attitude in life of enjoying the journey rather than always focusing on what could go wrong. Changing one's perspective can reveal different insights, and looking back on life's obstacles with satisfaction for having overcome them can help appreciate the destination more.

1. LifethroughtheBackWindow
Many moonsago I had the wonderful opportunitytovisitthe EasternCape asan aspirant
missionary. If Isay manymoons,I mean,itwas still calledCiskei andTranskei. If youare younger
than 20 youmightnot knowwhatI am talkingaboutnow. Don’t despair;todaywe call itEastern
Cape.
We were about6 people travellinginareal VWKombi. The DavidKramertype. The firstrow seat
was convenientlyturnedtoface the back seat. Three of my fellow studentswere sitting onthe back
benchand I wasthe one sittingonthe facingbackwardbench. Apparentlythe othersgotcarsickif
theysat there. Soalone,all bymyself Iwasfacingthe back window. The other2 people whereour
‘caretakers’.
Whilstenjoyingthe newview onthings(facingbackwards),twothingshappenedtome.
I realisedthatIdo not share the same excitementasmyfellow studentsaboutthe roadahead. They
couldsee whatI couldn’t.
Secondly,there firstviewof the landscape andmine wascompletelydifferent.
That journeybetweenOvistanandCoffee Bay, made me thinkaboutlife. Itmade me thinkabout
uncertaintyandespeciallyaboutvision.
Have you everhadthe joy of ridinga motorbike? If yes,youprobablyalsohadthe opportunitytobe
liftedona motorbike,like insomeone else ride andyouholdonfordear life sittingbehindthe rider.
Nowif you are youngenoughand willingtotake me on,I beg you,no,I challenge you: Letsomeone
whoyou trustride the bike,andgive youa lift. Nothingchallengingaboutthatyouwill say. Now let
him/herdoitwhile youare facingbackward. That meansyou andthe drivermustsitback-to-back
on the motorbike,while he/she isdrivingandyoucannotsee the road ahead.
There isa certainexcitement if youcansee whatiscoming,because itallowsyoutoadjust,to enjoy
and sometimestoevenappreciate.
Whenyoulose thisabilitytosee whatiscoming,like ridingbackwardsona motorbike,yourealise
that the funand excitementissuddenlyoverwhelming.
It made me think,that sometimeswe mustadoptthisattitude inlife aswell. We know whatisour
destinationorgoal forsome at least. But thenwe keeponfocusingonwhatis coming. We keepon
lookingatwhat can go wrong. Like youwouldwhen drivingacar or watchingthe road ahead.
I appreciate myDad forthisabilityof him. He can drive the car and still enjoythe view. Forme,itis
I mustfocus onthe road. I mustkeepmyeye onthe marker.
Wouldn’titbe nice if we can setthe GPS for ourdestinationandsitbackand enjoythe ride?
Look at the surroundingsandnotour circumstances;
lookat the mountains,andnotthe obstacles;
see the sunset andnot our glimmeringhope fadingaway?

2. Lookingthroughthe back windowof your life,mayhelpyouappreciate yourdestinationmore. Your
back windowdoesn’tonlyrepresentyourfailuresorpastbad memories,itisalsoareminder.It
especiallyrepresentsyouovercomingobstacles,youclimbingmountainousterrainandsurvivingit.
I alwayswonderedwherePerdekopgotitsname from. There isnothinghorse like drivingpast
Perdekoponthe Standertonroad. That isuntil we visitedVrede one day, andwe usedthe Vrede
road. Okay,maybe nota cleardapple-greyhorse orevenaLippazanerforthatmatter,but far more
horse than fromthe Standertonside.
The pointis,if you change the angle youare lookingatsomething,youwill be surprisedatthe
differentperspectiveyouwill endupwith.
My Kombi triptaughtme to see thingsthat none of myfellow studentswasable tosee. They
enjoyedexcitementandfearforwhat maycome,I experiencedsatisfaction. Why,because we have
beenthere,we made it,we succeededandwe movedpastit. Whetherthe experience wasgoodor
bad,whetheritwasbumpyor not, we have made it. It wasalreadyinthe past.
You see,satisfactionbydefaultisasecondaryemotion;youcannotexperience satisfaction,if you
haven’thadthe experience.
To live a satisfiedlive,don’tchange yourlife,change yourview!
Thisarticle waswrittenbyWillemHüsselmannfrom: