Reflection about life: please comment!!!

Today is July 17th, 2:22pm.
I finally managed to get a seat at the tiny little coffee/tuak shop overlooking the main market of Berastagi. (Usually this place, 3 tables) is always full of locals drinking tuak at all hours of the day and evening - apparently the tuak in Berastagi is alcohol-free).
Today one table is empty, thank god! Yet it is the one table fully exposed to the burning sun. Oh well...

Anyhow, as I was having lunch in the market (some delicious babi panggang, of roasted pork) and as I was observing the different people passing by, I was thinking about the following:

In the West, people tend to always worry about such trivial things in their lives, their blond hair die is not the right shade of blond, their winter gloves do not allow them to text on their smart phones, why isn't Apple compatible with PC, my dog is depressed let's take him to a shrink...and so many other silly life 'issues' that seem to prevent people to smile and be happy.

(Yes!!! A big cloud is finally blocking the sun, I can cool down a bit!)

As i am observing people during my trip, I am seeing people doing all sort sof things for a living sometimes to earn just a few cents per hour. Yet, you dont read on anyone's face a feeling of anger, stress, sorrow, unhappiness. All you seem to see is a feeling of concentration or preoccupation about what they are doing 'now' at the present moment. Later is later and doesnt seem to be intruding with now. You don't see any sort of judging or envying in people's eyes. Nobody cares about the look of others. (I haven't gone to Jakarta or Bali yet, where I think the dense presence of westerners might have a totally different influence on the locals).

Yet, at the same time, you see that people are kind of concerned about how much money they have in their pocket or are making at the present moment. You can sense a certain feeling of worry-ness. Which makes sense. After all, the meager income they live on and need in order to be able to survive and feed their family still is a daily constraint.

It just makes me wonder a lot. The people from developing countries who only manage to survive day by day, and keep on fighting with their individual economical situation, are they really happy? Do they actually have scales of comparisons to know different degrees of 'happiness'? Perhaps, they just don't know much better, while not necessarily knowing much worse either. So in the end, they just 'are'.

For those who are actually unhappy, or just do not like their condition, why do they keep on struggling? Are they just doing so in order to ensure the survival of their family? In which case, it would shown tremendous sacrifice of one's life. Or are they hoping that by struggling on the longer run they will manage to reach a better situation? But what would be a better situation? What would they actually need to get there? Do they count only on themselves? On the help of their god? On foreign aid? Are they themselves actually doing something, other than surviving, in order to change their condition?

For those living in absolute misery and who are fully conscious of their situation, why do they even persist to keep on living?

In our society, the West, so many people commit suicide because they feel depressed or rejected, yet, they live in such privileged condition. Ha! It just made me think that a perfect medicine to substitute all the antidepressant out there and much less dangerous for the body should be for doctors to prescribe hours of community service at helping others in need. I strongly believe that by doing this, there would be many less suicides, no more depressive people, and many less people in need. Just a thought for the lobbyists fighting pharmaceutical abuses. ;0)

Why is the West so different from the developing world? I don't think it is a matter of education level nor of financial capacity. Indeed, most well educated populations tend to live in the future, always saving, planning, investing...yet forgetting to live the present. If we were that well educated we would know how important and rewarding it actually is to live the present moment rather than constantly worry about the future.

The people with the most money and the most education ate the ones who tend to always want more and complain about their condition, while those with no education and no money survive, not complaining about life.

What you don't know cannot hurt you. The more the world is developing, the more the poor are interacting with the rich and the more they are realizing what they could have if they had more money. Consumerism coming from the West is like the new plague of the developing world. Almost as if the West was purposefully contaminating the developing world to make sure they are no longer happy. And what's the main channel/transmitter of this 'virus'? The internet, the media.

Ufffff....such a double edge sword!

Unfortunately, this virus is irreversible now. Poor people will have to be unhappy, and crave for material things they never knew nor needed before. And yet, at the same time, rich people are not getting happier.

Not sure I am making any sense. Hopefully some of you will share your own thoughts and make this post more interesting and constructive.