Afrikaans is my second language and one of my favourite things about it is its variety of unique idioms and sayings. So many of them are simple and hilarious, but at the same time manage to convey some of the most sage life advice out there.
One of my favourites is: “Die bobbejaan agter die bult gaan uithaal”, which translates to: “Fetching the baboon from behind the hill”. It refers to those times when we are so afraid of what problems and troubles may lie ahead – a.k.a. big, hairy, scary baboons with enormous teeth and a “somebody ate my last banana and now the world will pay” attitude – that we end up worried and stressed about them. We feel overwhelmed and defeated even though we have little to no evidence that what we are worried about will ever come to pass.
So what exactly makes fetching the baboon behind the hill such a damaging and pointless exercise? Well, the future “scary baboon” that we are worried about doesn’t exist in the present. The things we fear might happen haven’t happened yet and we have no way of knowing whether they will or won’t happen in the future. In addition to that, bringing some frightening imagined future reality into the present isn’t helpful because we can’t deal with something that hasn’t happened yet. Sure, we can make elaborate plans for all of the things we are worried might happen in the future, but how much of our precious time are we willing to waste on plans for eventualities that will most likely never come to pass?
When my mom is worried about something she jokingly tells me she’s gone behind the hill, fetched the baboon and now she’s grooming him – which I think we can all relate to! The baboon, which most of the time we have conjured up from thin air, takes over and constantly demands our attention. This leaves us feeling mentally and emotionally drained and makes it impossible for us to find peace in the moment.
Imagining that the worst lurks behind the next hill brings all the unnecessary feelings of fear and worry associated with that imagined future into the present. So leave the baboon behind the hill and focus on taking life one day at a time.
Wishing you the release from worry that comes from being completely present in the now.
Portal to Change 