I have leant a valuable lesson this weekend in Morocco, and that is never to pre-judge. Having spent a few days in Marrakech I can safely say that it is nothing like I expected it to be, proving that our perceptions are very often so wrong based on reality.
Think about that in a business sense for a moment. How often do we fear, worry, or stress about making a call, hosting a launch or doing a business presentation? What we think will happen as we do our daily activity is often not the reality, and in fact we needn’t have worried about the call as the prospect was wonderful, the the launch was a huge success or our business presentation was well received.
Well Marrakech has been like that for me. I came here thinking it would dirty, noisy, and far too hectic for my liking, when in fact that perception could not have been further from the truth. Everyone we have met has been so so polite and kind, yes the streets are busy but everywhere is clean and the experiences we have had have been such fun. We have loved being with the people that make this city what it is, to hear their stories and understand a little more about their culture.
It’s all too easy to only believe what we hear in our own media about other countries and their cultures, which is often one-sided and distorted. We must come and visit these places ourselves and spend time with the people to really understand about their way of life.
I have met some fantastic people and had the opportunity to take some stunning photos, getting into places that most tourists walk right by all because we have taken time to be at one with the locals. I guess the lesson of this blog is this; don’t prejudge, sometimes it’s best to just go with the flow and see what happens. I have done just that and it has lead to something I never expected from this trip.
I was talking to a lady about horses, as one does on a Forever trip, and the next thing I know myself and John are dashing off to see the a champion pure breed Arabian stallion, which for a horse lover like myself was a very special experience. He is priceless apparently, and I have now been invited to go to the breeding stud next time I am in Morocco, which is just one of many reasons why I will definitely be coming back to Morocco.