Marie

Humans have a tendency to want. We want everything, but we don’t know why we want it. Wealth, fame, prestige, those are important right? They make these little lives of ours meaningful, impactful. If we achieve them we will really matter. Sometimes we wake up in the morning and wonder, “What are we even doing here? What’s the point?” But then we remember, we are striving for success, we have goals, and achieving them, that, that is the point. 

Take another look at it. What if you were born into a one bedroom home made of tarps and sticks?  You too want wealth, fame, and prestige. That means you can move out of your slum and into a house made of bricks. With electricity and piped water and everything. You get chills just thinking about living in such luxury. But you’d have to hit it rich to even dream of making it possible. You never finished high school, never met your dad, and your mom couldn’t afford to pay your school fees. Now you have no job and you go out each day trying to find someone willing to pay you to do something. Anything that will buy food today or help put away a little to pay your $12 rent at the end of the month.

But back to the real you. How is this imaginary self relevant? That is not your life and abandoning your hopes and dreams to sit around and feel sorry for a billion poor people all day won’t help anyone. Anyway those hopes and dreams are wonderful. They make us strive to be the best people we can be, raise our children in the best circumstances we can, and in the process have a positive effect on the people around us. In fact, I have even indulged a hope and dream or two. I have a college degree and work for a respected NGO in Kenya. And it took focus, stress, and a desire to become something better to bring me to this point. But striving for success shouldn’t mean living in discontented limbo. 

What if we took the lessons of the poorest on this planet to find the meaning for the richest? We get habituated to our lives and are not innately satisfied with anything, even the things that SHOULD bring us the greatest joy. Take a moment and think of something you use every day and that you would miss most if you had to give it up. A computer? Ipod? Car? Now imagine a day without water, food, or shelter. This could easily be your life. You were born somewhere. That’s what you did to deserve the life you’ve achieved now. Or maybe your parents immigrated somewhere so that you could be born there. Or maybe you were born in a slum and this whole article seems obvious, or insulting, or the epitome of a first world problem. 

I don’t know who you are, but the imaginary “you” I described above is real. He’s a friend of mine in Nairobi and I think he has the right idea. Living in a house made of bricks is great. I even get running water and electricity most days. I go outside and buy food and eat it when I want to. I cook using a gas tank I carried up four flights of stairs to my apartment and I make small portions, because I don’t have a refrigerator and the leftovers go bad. And when I splurge on a 40 cent muffin, it tastes like freedom, success, and extravagance all wrapped up in one lightly sweetened baked good. 

So next time you’re stressing about what you want out of your future, take a second to analyze your present. It might be awesome. You might in fact be one of the top 10% richest people in the world. Or more likely, given the job market, you are poor and unemployed. But I guarantee you’ve got more going on than you think you do. My friends who may not have the luxury of splurging on a 40 cent muffin, still laugh and joke and value what they do have. Because counting what they don’t have isn’t worth their time. And isn’t worth yours either.