Perspectives.
Having recently returned from a brief trip to South Africa where I accompanied a pupil of mine by the name of Darryn Lloyd. I was left with a vast array of deeply moving, thought shifting images. The purpose of our trip was a return to Darryn's homeland where he was competing on the Sunshine Tour for the most lucrative portion of their summer season.
Working on a budget, we were both forced to take slightly different routes into his home city of Durban. He decided to take the cheapest flight with Egypt Air, naturally connecting in Cairo before flying into Johannesburg and finally arriving in Durban courtesy of possibly the most relaxed air flight staff on the planet, Mango Air. Myself, having held onto my cash for slightly longer before diving in, was fortunate to find a road that would take me over such hairy destinations as Bagdad and Iran before touching down in what the Arabians call, the 'Gateway to the World'. Always eager to sample different airlines, my Emirates flight was one of splendid quality and relative comfort, (naturally I was slumming it with the 'eco class', a sign of my life score to date I guess!). It was my first experience of the Jewel in the desert, Dubai, possibly the fastest growing playground in the world. I had a painful eight hours to wander, wait, wonder and eventually wither before connecting in Dubai to Johannesburg at 5 am.
It was massive, I've been to a few of these places, Atlanta, Heathrow, LAX, Kennedy and as big as they are, none of them are shouting as loud as this place.
So what was it shouting?
SPEND, INVEST, SPEND, WEALTH, EAT, DRINK, SPEND, INVEST, ENJOY, RELAX, SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!
If this is the gateway to the world, Im not sure I want to go any further. If the first thing you see on the other side of the gate is lavish goods, high fashion and westernised consumerism then Im well and truely lost.
Or am I?
Its funny, it kind of sums the world up in as much as its just lavish expense. Plonk the best of everything in the desert, invite the wealthiest, most talented professionals of all walks of life, not forgetting some of the dumbest (celebrities) and see what happens. Thats right, the people will come and undoubtedly aspire all the same, each in search of a tiny piece of the icons they seek and continually follow with such misdirected passion.
Its a whole lotta B.S!
From what I can see, from my seat at the gate, there really isn't anything to explore and tap into here, nothing of any true worth anyway. Its just, as the modern documented world has so rapidly become, merely a lavish place to spend all evil on nothing but shit you really don't need and never find any happiness in.
But thats just it, western society has become all to engrossed in their search for happiness. Misdirected, lead astray, kidnapped and simply fooled into thinking the key to all happiness lay with expensive items of merchandise. Lavishly presented packages of comfort, good vibes with a fat price tag as used by the most fame hungry puppets on the planet.
So what is happiness?
What does it mean to you?
Happiness for me will probably mean nothing to you.
Whatever our individual perception of happiness is, lets all rest assured in finding it we have all experienced success. Success is the by product of happiness not vise versa. In a quest for happiness you will find your own level of success and appreciate your place in society and resulting influence on the people that populate your world. No matter how big or small that influence may appear to ones self, to influence a small part of life is to influence the entire spectrum of its potential.
How many people see it like this?
Lets take a look at the six most desired human needs.
1. CERTAINTY
2. VARIETY
3. SIGNIFICANCE
4. LOVE/ CONNECTION
5. GROWTH
6. CONTRIBUTION TO OTHERS
These elements are based on the conclusions of Anthony Robbins, the prolific motivational speaker and life coach from the United States. His conclusions suggest clearly the human elements Im sure all of us have felt consumed by at some point in our lives. Rightly positioned at the top of the list is CERTAINTY or CONTROL, we all seek it, as much as we all hate falling under it. We all wish we could see things for certain, the outcome of our endeavors, our investments or financial futures. Controlling forces are all around us, we are continually trying to escape them on a daily basis, weather at home from a loved one or in work and the societies that surround us, of course thats not forgetting the powers that be within our governments and law enforcement sectors. Life is unashamedly submerged in control.
From the moment we are born we know only life, but life is born and raised under the control and direction of the loved ones who decided to grace the planet with our presence.
What is a parent trying to control?
The safe guarding, healthy life and successful future of their child.
Its every parents dream, to see their little creation develop into a successful human being, one who needs for nothing more than the love and support of his family. But at the absolute core of each and everyone of us, parent and child, there lay the rawest human instinct of them all, SURVIVAL! Yes, at the very heart of us all is a very basic human will to survive. Our primary goal as humans is to gather a consistent supply of food and drink, followed closely by warm clothing and warm dry shelter. Its a pretty simple view of life but really this is all we really need to live long and happy lives.
SURVIVAL, its the most basic and essential human desire.
Which brings me back to first thing that jumped off this page and demanded your attention. The image at the top of the page shows two young boys on the side of a busy highway on a wet Monday morning in South Africa. Looking more like the Highlands of Scotland, our eleven hour journey was about four hours in when we passed through yet another township of which many children were playfully begging for food and outside interaction.
Right there, right at that moment the entire trip was thrown into a frenzy of clear cut perspective. Razor sharp were the teeth of this moment, it managed to cut straight through my soul, more than a wake up call, I suddenly felt a sense of higher purpose. As the journey continued we would pass through many a more densely populated town, each one bustling with action, so many people, so much to look at and nowhere to hide. I had never been so far from the comfort and security of my own home, I was in the wild and deeper than Id ever ventured before. Everywhere I looked, every new town we entered all you could see were people going about their everyday life, most were smiling, lots were laughing and naturally a great many were merely surviving. What I saw that day was a society at ease with itself, a massive array of individuals all sharing the same goal, each following the same daily ritual.
SURVIVAL. In their quest for daily survival not one of these people appeared frustrated or in anyway influenced by the other. The goal of the day was aim for tomorrow, then think about the next day, find some work, earn some money and find some food. Simple human instincts in their absolute rawest form.
Live to Survive and you succeed in finding simple highs of joyful happiness.
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