Pondering over a quote

Hi friends,

From time to time, I try to take a moment to reflect on my adventures, the people here and back in Belgium, or life in general. Ponder over it if you will. It's not always easy to put everything into the right words or ask the right questions. But that is where the quotes come in handy. They help me express myself and to let me think and reflect. That is exactly what I am going to do in this blog post as well: Pondering over a quote.

"You can go to hell without moving an inch, just focus on what you lack. You can taste heaven without leaving earth, just rejoice in what you have." - James Clear

This quote holds so much truth. I moved a bit more than an inch, to pursue my dreams, and find fulfillment. But I can see this quote working anywhere around the globe. You can get stuck in a deep mental prison, suffering, if you focus only on the negatives. Things you don't have, the things you lack, things you want but can't have, or things you dream of, but don't make an effort to pursue. They can easily turn into a mental hell.

For example here in Cambodia, most people don't have much. But they are always there smiling, making fun of each other, making the best of each situation. It is heartwarming to see! They focus and are happy with what they have. They are happy to go to school because they get to go to school, it is not a given here. They are grateful to go to work, even if it would be a shitty one in our eyes, because they earn an income and get more empowerment this way. They get great pleasure out of friends and family.

My favorite street vendor, for example, used to have a shared food shop with her sister. They would fight a lot, like most siblings do, but they also clearly love each other. When we got back from Belgium 3-ish months later, she had her own shop. There was less in it, but she took great pleasure and pride in what she had. Now she is still expanding and doing great. Of course, she has a lot of struggles as well, illnesses in her family that are too expensive for her to pay, because healthcare is just very expensive, and not always trustworthy. But despite everything, she always puts on a smile and tries to make the best out of every single day. In other words, she focuses on what she has.

Of course, not everyone is so grateful or happy all the time. Whilst Cambodia is a very safe country, there are a lot, and I mean a lot of tourist scams. People think that all tourists are as rich as the sea is deep - which of course is not the case. Some local people see what others have and what they don't have, and can turn sour. They focus on what they lack. They think the grass is greener somewhere else. For example, we rented a scooter for a longer time. Unfortunately, there was always something wrong with it, we'd turn it back to the shop, get a replacement and after sometimes one hour, sometimes a couple of weeks, something would break again.

We checked with other people and they told us that that wasn't normal. So we went back to the shop, asked for a replacement, and wanted to make sure this one would last for a longer time. This was not appreciated by the owner of the shop and he told us that we had to pay more because we could afford it, he assumed - because we are not Cambodians. He got really angry. From that day on, we are riding bicycles. Anyway, my point is sometimes people get hung on what they don't have and create their own prison, or hell, or however you want to call it.

The key thing to take away from this is to focus on what you have, or if you want to change something, take action and change it. Reach for your goals, and seek discomfort, face your fears. If you don't move an inch, won't take action, you'll just keep on feeling from bad to worse.

Then back in Belgium, it was the same difference. People who focus on what they have are happier, tasting heaven. Some of my students in Belgium, who have for example a small garden, truly flourish if they talk about that aspect of their life. Others get very passionate about their job. Those are the people who are happy with what they have, they take great pleasure in it.

On the other hand, there is a lot of envy and jealousy as well. A new phone that you want but can't get a new car, or other materialistic stuff. But this is not specific of course. Something I know people get really hung up about in Belgium is vacation days, salary, and pension. But even the weather sometimes. The amount of shit teachers get over them, from other people in Belgium for example. Because they take a quick look at how many teaching hours we have and mistake it for work hours is just ridiculous. Or comparing salaries, it is such a big taboo to talk about how much you earn, to prevent jealousy. Every year there is at least once a big debate going on about the pensions, what age people can or should retire, and people who can retire early are usually in the eye of the storm then. This in a country where you can easily switch professions and get the same 'perks'.

Of course it is not black nor white.

What are your thoughts on this?