The art of happiness

I am back in the heart of humanity. I'm in Nablus, Palestine.

The country is suffering, the people wear truamas on their minds and many buildings cannot even provide basic water needs. Does this mean that I see people crying in the streets? Do I meet jealous people when they see that I carry money?

For anyone that has traveled around it's obvious that this is not the case... People laugh, smile and seem to enjoy life. People don't steal or try to trick money from me in general. Quite the opposite, I have seen many cases where people with less money have given expensive gifts. So how does my western brain (not implying that it is better, rather the opposite) explain this?

Being kind and feeling happy has very little to do with money or resources. This might seem obvious, but the western culture sometimes doubts this simple fact.

So what do I want to say with this? I think it is important to remeber that happiness and sadness likewise comes from the inside. Ofcourse there are conditions and happenings that makes it more or less difficult to be happy, but even in the most extreme cases we can be pleased with our lives.

If people that have lost many of their relatives in meaningless fighting, brutally got beaten and lack the right to do even basic things can pick up an empty can and kick it like a football, then certainly we must be able to enjoy hot showers and freedom from fear.

For yourselves and for the happiness of this planet, think about what you have and not what you miss! So I say this with positive thoughts for the future in mind rather than negative ones about the present.