Butterfly Effect

So Vidhu called me and asked me how many baby wipes I bought for our trip - I told her six packets...I mean, I figure that's 3 each per person for 23 days (and that's not including toilet paper, 8 rolls). She didn't think it was enough, so she went out and bought 3 more huge containers. Her reasoning, "I will not have a dirty ass." Apparently Martha got her paranoid talking to her about her own experience in China. But I think her reaction sums up our fears - and hints at the obstacles we'll encounter. Cleanliness, poverty, and an overriding worry of the unknown. Everyone we've spoken to says traveling to India is a life altering experience. It's as if these travels offer a process of change - and let's admit it, not all change is good. And as we ready our bags, and I pack up my life here in Orlando, I realize that the older I get, the harder it is for me to retain that flexibility for change I had in my youth. It's the knowledge of the negative possibilities that scare me. I hate to think that any choices I make in life are based on fear. In order to get the most out of life and new experiences, I'm realizing that perhaps keeping a modicum of optimism and remembering the promise of the process isn't such a bad thing.