As time travelled, wants and needs unravelled
WHILE driving along a road surrounded by rural, rugged African terrain it struck me how most people don’t get to choose where they live.
It was the year 2000, I had completed my cadetship in journalism at a newspaper called The Letaba Herald.
This was the last time I’d see that road and the bustle of life on either side of it.
Women walked carrying large boxes and barrels on their heads, children at their sides and babies tied to their back.
Informal housing was scattered all over, little bits of metal sheeting, tarpaulin and other materials had been turned into shacks.
Dogs, goats, sheep, cattle and cats milled together like it was a big, open plan outdoor zoo.
These people will never get out of this kind of life, I recall thinking.
I felt privileged and lucky, and I was.
I was leaving because I was migrating to Australia.
Getting a visa was hard enough with all the right documents, these people had no hope of a better life.
The road was long and after about 80 kilometres I realised none of these ‘stuck’ people seemed unhappy.
I was stressed, tired, frustrated and always wanting more so life would be ‘perfect’.
I saw children laughing and playing in the dirt with balls, some had made trucks and cars out of wire.
The mums were laughing and enjoying each other’s company too.
We are all privileged and ‘wealthy’ in someone’s eyes.
Those living in a small one room shack no doubt thought the neighbour with a bedroom and kitchen was rich.
Then that person would likely be looking at someone who has more bedrooms and running water as being well off.
I’d been living in a duplex within a complex, it had power and water … I was well off compared to someone living in a shanty town.
It’s a comparison that continues ever upwards.
The people living in shacks are happy because they’ve never known or expected anything other than the status quo.
In the first world we are obsessed with accumulating stuff.
We acquire so much ‘stuff’ some need storage containers to hold it all.
Our things are so important, when we buy a house, we look for one that can fit everything in it as we don’t want to let go of anything.
Yet here were thousands of people living a life of poverty generations over and they were laughing, smiling and enjoying the day.
What did we get wrong, I thought, and how can I learn from what I am seeing?
Be forever grateful for the day, the one you’re in right now.
People the world over live vastly different lives but the great equaliser is our mortality.
You could be a billionaire and live a sad and unhappy life.
You could be poor and have nothing, but love everything about your life.
Wealth is subjective and those villagers were unlikely to change their position in life.
I decided being content in the now is perhaps the best way to live the life you’ve been given.
And remember, if you live in Australia, you’ve already won the lottery for lucky lives.
I know because I did.
