I do not remember if I had any dreams about the future when I was younger. Surely I never guessed that my life developed the way it did. I never dreamed about owning my own house(s) in an Arab country. And not in my wildest dreams I saw myself as a Moslim. On top of this, I never, never believed that I would find myself stuck in the midst of a revolution. In the middle of an uprising of people against a dictatorship.

Back in the Netherlands it all seems as if it was a movie. Tunisia has become like a second country to me. A quite, liberal and prosperous country with just one restriction; never talk about politics or the president and his criminal family.

Then suddenly, almost out of nowhere, everything changed. Shooting outside our apartment, people with sticks and bats on the streets and frighting warnings about looters trying to profit from this time of lawlessness. Being alone with my wife, daughter-in-law and her two months old child, I did not feel at ease… To put it mildly… So we decided to flee our apartment and stayed with family in an area where it was not less dangerous but at least we were more protected by family and neighbors.

I am not sure in what way my consciousness of the now helped me during these few days. I am used to stay calm during hectic and frightful moments but that is more out of experience. The challenge for me lays afterwards when I look back at the things that happened. Then I see how these policemen pointed their armed guns directly at us and I start wondering… What if?

At these moments I do profit from the lessons learned by ET and meditation. It still took a lot of energy to keep it all together, however. I am still recovering of the fear and uncertainty. Both my wife and I are very tired. Exhausted even. If these few days can make such an impression on us I can not help but wondering how people can survive in area’s where war has become like a normal part of life. I can now understand how this could damage a person for ever.

Raoef