How satisfied are we in our lives? Are we happy where we are or are we constantly feeling this sense of dissatisfaction that something is missing in our lives…that we should be somewhere more exciting, be someone making more money, be richer, being slimmer, more beautiful and the endless complaints, discontentment, and dissatisfaction in our lives. Happiness and satisfaction are very subjective words that are used to mean different things. We sometimes use the word “happiness” to describe joy. Sometimes we use the word “satisfaction” to describe the feeling of eating a satisfying meal after the end of a workday. Happiness can also mean something deeper, more meaningful. Satisfaction can come from a “peace of mind” and contentment follows. Deep happiness does not come from joy or sensory pleasure. It comes from the many small and great acceptance in our lives and acknowledgment of where we belong in this world.
My recent trip to Morocco has certainly opened my eyes to what simplicity of life means to some people and yet these people find happiness in their lives. They are the Berbers of North Africa. Most of today’s Berbers live in the mountains of Morocco. For day in and day out, they live within the walls of the Medina.
Medina means “the old walled part of a North African town.” They are born within the walls of the Medina, they grow up there and grow old and eventually they die there. There is usually a large plot of cemetery just for those living in the Medinas, outside the city walls. The children are happy, playing with their neighbors in the Medina. Their mothers are content, watching over them and smiling at us (visitors) and directing us to their market place. The seniors are playing cards nearby and their menfolk are plying their businesses in the market square. This is a typical life within the walls of the old Medinas.
The West has characterized Berbers as nomads using camels to cross the Sahara Desert. Our recent trip into the Sahara Desert has given me insight into their lives. They are a happy and contented lot. As long as they have food for the day, they are happy. They have no ambition of living anywhere else but where they are born and bred, either within the walls of the Medina or in the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert. These Berbers of the Sahara Desert have been giving visitors a taste of a “desert life” but it is not a typical nomadic desert life as theirs but of a luxury type of a “desert life” whereby we have a luxurious tent, equipped with very comfortable beds. Plush cushions are thrown on the beds and sofas. Rich, lush carpets thrown on the floor of the pitched-up tents. I am certain that these Berbers do not live this way. It is definitely an experience for a lifetime!!
The sobering thought is that we (from the “outside world”) are always discontented and unhappy with our lot in life. As compared with these Berbers, we seem to have everything and more…yet? Will we be happy as the Berbers and be content with our lot in life? Or do we continue to strive for more? How much more is more? No wonder it is the world that
is stressing us out, making us an unhappy and discontented lot. We are always striving to best our neighbors, wanting more and then never will be enough to make us happy or content. It is a vicious cycle that will go on and on until we put our brakes on it and say “Enough!”
