Traveling helps people adapt to new environments, understand why people of different cultures behave differently, so as to enable us to understand why people do the things they do. This is especially useful to me because I work in a multi-national company that is made up of people all over the world. It helps me adapt and not to expect others to do things the way we do.
For example, if we see people spitting around, people who eat things and leave their waste to be cleared by other people, people who talks out loud in public, people who blocks every passageway and sidewalks, we can understand why they will never do what we expect them to do, such as to give way to us so we can walk the sidewalks, soften their chatter onboard trains and so on.
Not all imported behaviors are negative however. I've learnt many things from foreign cultures which I wish are being practised here. For example, ever since I visited the USA for the first time many years ago, I've learnt to clear my own food trays and waste at every fast food chains. Not to do so, to me, is to be uncultured and inconsiderate.
One of the many things in life we should all learn is that we must do things with consideration for others. We should not make decisions on our own without forseeing how our decisions may affect others. My principle for living is simple. I follow the Bible verse Philippians 2:3 which says:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;Learning to be graceful and less inconsiderate can go a long way. If we wish to live our lives meaningfully, we'll need to know how to behave and live our lives. If you, like me, are willing to strive to make our nation state a place to live in, read my article on Learning to be Graceful.
