as i looked back on all my memories - more than art, more than trying to succeed in school or work, more than trying to be the best - i've realized that i've been the happiest when i'm with the ones i love, in the places i love that hold all my emotional memories, doing what i love most - serving and being with people who really appreciate me for who i am; who have taught me about living life, love, joy, sadness, real suffering, pure happiness.. the things in life that really money can't buy..
who are these people? where are these places where i've experienced the zenith of happiness and where i realized "this is my reason for living, this is why i'm living" the true answer doesn't lie in my blog post or my words, or the people i know, or the places i've been, but the life that i've lived thus far, my happiness exists through my memories, my emotions, my own experiences, my heart... and sometimes you don't realize that a certain moment is "what happiness truly is", but when you look back you'll automatically know that, that moment in your life was the happiest for you when that unconscious smile comes to your face..
of course you can also be happy for a moment, but is that really happiness? as i looked back on my pictures i came to realize that i have had many happy moments in my life, but true happiness was not something i received or made for myself, but what i gave...
people think that places where you're not comfortable and the culture is so far from anything you've know could never be a place of happiness, but you know what? for me happiness was in the places where water is hard to find, bathrooms mean a hole in the ground, sleeping in a village, traveling to places where tourists don't go. my happiness existed in those places because i saw, experienced, and met with people who appreciate you more than themselves - who would give up their house for you so that you could have a place to stay for the night, who would give you their fattest pig so that you and the people you're with can have the best meal that they can offer to you.. they were thankful that someone would come and be with them, to teach them, to show them a world beyond their village.. at that time, i really wasn't happy.. why? because i had nothing to give to them, WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY GIVE BACK TO THEM WHEN THEY'VE GIVEN ME ALL THEY HAVE? simply love. all i could do is love these people, love them and make them feel just as important as a king or queen, love them and teach them what love is, be with them, listen to them, comfort them, pray for them.... that was true happiness: loving without wanting anything in return and that's when you'll smile unconsciously to yourself saying "living really was worth it"
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