A philosopher friend remarked recently: “God must really love unhappy people, otherwise He wouldn’t have made so many of them”.
We seldom meet happy people. Most people would like to be somewhere else, doing something else, or being someone else.
Contentment is a rare commodity. The modern human race is behind much of this unhappiness. We are constantly urged to aspire to better things, aim higher, reach for the stars, strive to be better, richer more popular. Gather more bling. In other words, don’t be satisfied with who you are or where you are.
The magazines and TV publish advertisements for expensive cars and designer clothes, handcrafted shoes, bejewelled Swiss watches and rare malt whiskies. Usually, an attractive long-legged model leans against the million-dollar sports car, implying she will fall for the man who drives one of those. She won’t.
There’s no limit to the dissatisfaction we weave around ourselves because there’s always somebody richer or flashier, and we want to be that someone.
If I live in a nine-bedroom palace in Queens Court I am unhappy because my friend has a 15-room palace in Swakopmund. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, instead of worrying about what we could be, we thought about what we are, for a change. My old bakkie gets me safely and comfortable wherever I want to go. It may not be able to travel at 180km/h like my friend’s Mercedes, but in reality, my friend can never actually go at that speed because there’s too much traffic on the roads.
I love sharing a bottle of Coke light with my wife on a Saturday evening. It costs me less than N$50 I wonder whether I’d get much more pleasure by sharing a N$1 000 bottle of Bordeaux red with her. We hardly notice the wine in our glasses. The pleasure is all about friendship, conversation and sharing. That’s riches beyond price. Look at the advertisements for expensive holidays in America or France. Would we be happier there than sitting in the sun on a sidewalk restaurant sharing a pizza and a coffee with four good old pals? I doubt it.
The art of good living is not to look at what could be. It’s to look at the riches you have – the sunshine the friendship, the soaring seagulls, the craftsmen making intricate – beaded animals, the street musicians.
In conclusion, ask a dozen people what the word blessing means and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers. For many people, it means financial security. For some people, it means good health for yet others, it means meaningful relationships with significant people in their lives. Even in the Bible, the word is used to express several thoughts. Therefore, the life we have is as rich as it can be. We’re rich. We should be as happy as can be.
* Reverend Jan A Scholtz is the former Chairperson of //Kharas Regional Council and former !Nami#nus constituency councillor. He is a holder of a Diploma in Theology, B-Theo (SA), a Diploma in Youth Work and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), and a Diploma in Education III (KOK) BA (HED) from UNISA.