Yesterday, I was thinking about what makes a good person and was looking for quotes that talked about the difference between superficial beauty and inner beauty. I wanted to highlight that there are a lot of very "good looking" people who are actually quite hideous. I was unsuccessful in finding the appropriate quote and instead came across a quote by Victor Hugo "The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved — loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
As soon as I read it, I smiled (and posted in on facebook). I realized that my unhappiness was mostly due to the fact that I was focusing on the wrong things. In truth, I have every reason to be happy. Yes, my life is far from ideal and there are numerous things that I'm working on changing. However, I am surrounded by amazing people who are there for me and with me everyday.
I am blessed to have some of the best friends a girl could hope for. These are people who have watched out for me when I sick, call me out when I'm being annoying and will laugh with me when things get weird. They are the people who listen and share. They are the ones that don't need to say much of anything, or can say everything with a simple gesture. I am blessed to have found such friends here in Saudi and in the US, in Colombia and around the world.
I also have the greatest family in the world. Let's be perfectly honest, my parents are awesome (those of you who have met them, can attest, those of you who haven't, are missing out). My sister is a daily reminder of how strong people can be. In short, I am one of those incredibly lucky people who really LOVE going home and spending time with these people. And, not only are they my family but they are also my best friends. They are first people I call when I need advice and the only ones that I listen to when they tell me I'm wrong (most of the time).
In short, if happiness is defined by the people that we surround ourselves with, then I have more than my fair share of reasons to be happy. I have people that love me despite the fact that I don't always make sense and can be moody, sarcastic, shy and forgetful. In short, I am loved in spite of myself, and I can't be thankful (or happy) enough.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Sick of Saudi
Well actually it's more like Sick IN Saudi. Both are correct but the latter better reflects my current situation.
Anyway, I have come down with the flu. This may not seem like a big deal, and ordinarily it wouldn't be, but I seem to keep getting sick. I am not going to claim to that person who NEVER gets sick, but I certainly wasn't the person who is ALWAYS getting sick. Now apparently, I am.
The problem with being sick here is twofold. First off, there are limited cold medicines you can take. This being the country of restrictions, the cough medicine is well, in my humble opinion, absolutely useless. I can go though an entire bottle of this supposed remedy and still cough up a lung. The second problem is that there is no where you can go and get a decent meal (a.k.a. no Whole Foods or Traders Joes from which to buy soup, the canned stuff just doesn't cut it). So here I am left to my own devices and as such resorting to mac and cheese and panadol.
I feel like I have gotten sick more often and for longer here than I ever had before. My dad thinks its psychological, others think it's environmental, I think they both might be right. I do believe that our state of mind does ultimately affect our physical well being, but living in a house that is constantly covered in dust and has serious mold issues can't be helping either.
Whatever the cause may be, my cold/fly induced psychosis has got me to thinking. We spend a lot of time thinking about how our lives could be different. The constant "what if?" that seems to drive our day to day existence. There are moments we look back on and want to change, other we want to relive and still others that we simply wish had never happened.
It's kind of odd, but sometimes I think that if some of the bad things that have happened to me hadn't happened, I would actually be worse off than I am now, which is certainly not how I felt when I was going through that. I wonder if this place, this moment, will also be one of those times. I mean I could probably sit here and list all the things I would change about my life here. I'm sure we all could. The grass always looks greener and all that jazz. But how many times do we actually sit down and think about how this hard moment, this particular difficulty is actually teaching you a valuable lesson?
And let's face it, it's the lessons that we don't necessarily want to learn that are the hardest to grasp, but once you actually do get a handle on that thing that seemed so obscure and far away, you wonder why it seems to difficult to begin with. The biggest obstacles to our own happiness is ourselves, so perhaps it's time to actually embrace ourselves for who we are, and accept that for better or worse we are exactly who we are supposed to be at this very moment.
Anyway, I have come down with the flu. This may not seem like a big deal, and ordinarily it wouldn't be, but I seem to keep getting sick. I am not going to claim to that person who NEVER gets sick, but I certainly wasn't the person who is ALWAYS getting sick. Now apparently, I am.
The problem with being sick here is twofold. First off, there are limited cold medicines you can take. This being the country of restrictions, the cough medicine is well, in my humble opinion, absolutely useless. I can go though an entire bottle of this supposed remedy and still cough up a lung. The second problem is that there is no where you can go and get a decent meal (a.k.a. no Whole Foods or Traders Joes from which to buy soup, the canned stuff just doesn't cut it). So here I am left to my own devices and as such resorting to mac and cheese and panadol.
I feel like I have gotten sick more often and for longer here than I ever had before. My dad thinks its psychological, others think it's environmental, I think they both might be right. I do believe that our state of mind does ultimately affect our physical well being, but living in a house that is constantly covered in dust and has serious mold issues can't be helping either.
Whatever the cause may be, my cold/fly induced psychosis has got me to thinking. We spend a lot of time thinking about how our lives could be different. The constant "what if?" that seems to drive our day to day existence. There are moments we look back on and want to change, other we want to relive and still others that we simply wish had never happened.
It's kind of odd, but sometimes I think that if some of the bad things that have happened to me hadn't happened, I would actually be worse off than I am now, which is certainly not how I felt when I was going through that. I wonder if this place, this moment, will also be one of those times. I mean I could probably sit here and list all the things I would change about my life here. I'm sure we all could. The grass always looks greener and all that jazz. But how many times do we actually sit down and think about how this hard moment, this particular difficulty is actually teaching you a valuable lesson?
And let's face it, it's the lessons that we don't necessarily want to learn that are the hardest to grasp, but once you actually do get a handle on that thing that seemed so obscure and far away, you wonder why it seems to difficult to begin with. The biggest obstacles to our own happiness is ourselves, so perhaps it's time to actually embrace ourselves for who we are, and accept that for better or worse we are exactly who we are supposed to be at this very moment.
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