Driving through the dark and dusty streets of Goma, my driver explained to me that although he took great pleasure in helping the occasional stranger navigate their way around through his home town, his family’s main source of income came from his father’s farm. Ignorantly, I asked him what he really wanted to do with his life. “What I want,” he said, “doesn’t matter. I need to work the soil to feed my children, who will need to work it to feed theirs.” He smiled. “And so forth.” Insert foot in mouth.
Although America is the self-proclaimed “Land of Opportunity,” many people feel disappointed or even cheated when they aren’t able to immediately fulfill their dreams. They equate “opportunity” with “guarantee.” Just like a child who cries when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants for Christmas, many of us fail to realize that the chance is the gift — opportunity is priceless, and at home, it is in abundance.
The chance to be yourself, to choose your own path in life, to be happy on your own terms. Most people in the world have no chance; indeed, they have no choice. But we do, even if we’re too clouded to see it half the time.
Now, has traveling in poor countries made me want to runaway, join an NGO, and attempt to save the world? Not exactly. It hasn’t made me want to give up the freedoms and luxuries I enjoy, give them to people who don’t have them, and adopt a life of poverty so that I may understand the plight of the less fortunate. Rather, it has made me thankful, and caused me to consciously manifest an attitude of appreciation, as opposed to entitlement. I have air in my lungs, and feet that carry me to far away places, and that is so much more than enough.
Seeing the world and becoming more aware of the positive in my life has resulted in me feeling richer, freer, and safer. Now am I actually any richer, freer, or safer for it? I don’t truly know. But I am certainly happier in every sense of the word. I am more frequently satisfied than disappointed, and I only rarely feel entitled; I often just feel thankful. Very, very thankful.
