If you have no idea...

I was back home during the holidays, the first thing my dad said to me when I got home was there are some African tribes that lived in isolated areas away from outside influence, extremely poor, but frolic happy, do you see it as blessing or ignorance? I was startled, since a greeting was something I was expecting. Without the chance to think, my mom dragged me away to show me some new clothes she bought on discount from some quality store.

I thought about this problem for sometime, at first my answer was Yes! Blessings! How wonderful is their life without outside influence and living in their own utopia. Living in a world with a perfect structure, constant attitude, minimal problems and changes, I imagine the still-life of the picture perfect world. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, unaware of the harsh life that could possibly exist. So unfortunate that they took a bite of that apple, and come to the acknowledgement of wisdom and judgement-- all the good things that supreme creatures have, as well as the baggage of what Christianity call sin.

We often ask the question: do we regret bitting that apple? My answer is no.

The acquisition of happiness, and all those things that people say they want, will never be achieved when it is set as a goal. They come as a byproduct of something else, something that is meaningful, something that actually makes you get up early in the morning, something that you spent your nights tirelessly working on, something...else. Those things, as I vaguely describe but cannot pinpoint, are pursued through struggles, hardships, and headaches. Once you discover the thing, or meaning, or purpose, that you so passionately battle for, you may discover one day a bag full of happiness, success, or fame as a bonus.

For our fellow brothers and sisters from those African tribes that my dad was talking about, they may represent the life in the Garden of Eve. They are not aware of outside world, and are free from daily temptations that we battle everyday. Yet, do they know the true satisfaction after a fruitful day of hard labor? Do they know the feeling of victory when one has overcome his or her own limitations?