Moving on

"Moving on" is actually a much better way to look at things than "saying goodbye". Saying goodbye to people you've spend so many happy hours with is never easy, but it's a totally different cup of tea when you know, you will probably never see them again. 

Moving on opens new perspectives, new opportunities to meet people who will inspire you in life. Moving on is hope, while saying goodbye is sorrow. I hate saying goodbye but love moving on. 

At the end of each class, my students would stand up and say "thank you teacher, see you again tomorrow". Now, there's no tomorrow for me with them. And maybe not even next year. It must be tough for full time teachers, when you watch your pupils get better each day, encourage them to harness their talents and then you see them leave to make place for new pupils.

In my class there were a couple of very talented young boys, which is even more amazing, considering their backgrounds. Danupol, one particularly gifted boy is from a poor hill tribe family of farmers and his father died, when Danupol was thirteen. He then decided to become a novice, to continue his education. "Otherwise, I'd have to plant rice and vegetables, all year round and would have no time to go to school. But I want to be a famous monk, who can teach people and take care of my family."

At seventeen he knows what really matters and may be wiser than many people will ever be.

In this digital age, it seems we are always only a wi-fi hotspot away from people who should matter. So we all exchange our email addresses and make friends on Facebook only to forget about each other in a time much shorter than it would have taken a traditional letter to cross the ocean just a century ago.

I didn't promise to come back. It would be misleading  and most of my friends won't be here either next year. They'll finish school, maybe leave life in the temple to find a job and start a family. 

Life is moving on. 

Off to the South tomorrow!