Dr. Jean and I celebrated our 30 wedding anniversary along with some friends celebrating their 25 anniversary this past fall. We went to an island in French Polynesia called Bora Bora and it made me realize that gratitude is the right attitude to have in life.
It was an amazing experience on many different levels. The absolute tropical beauty was hard to capture on film. These 56 year old eyes have never seen blues that color before. It was a perfect sample of what a wondrous world we live in.
On our departure, my friend and I were most moved by the people on the island. They were so genuinely welcoming and peaceful. I’m sure you’ve heard of island time before: more relaxed than our pace for sure, yet, it was much more than just “island time”. The Polynesians we interacted with were at peace with themselves. Why wouldn’t you be if you lived in a tropical paradise you might ask. Most of the people live in what we consider poverty yet they are happy and proud of their local traditions/history.
That inner peace was just emanating from within them. Interestingly the two words I heard most were “Ia ora na” meaning hello and “maururu” meaning thank you. The Polynesians did not speak these words to you, they literally sang them.
I couldn’t help but think one of the reasons they are so happy is that there is a constant state of GRATITUDE in their life. When a person remains in the state of gratitude, everything is better because of that attitude. Compared to waiting for a good thing to happen then giving gratitude…when you live in a state of gratitude you search and attract good things to you.
This is imperative in health as well. If you are an Eeyore and are always looking for the next thing to plague you-the universe will drop it on your front step. If you encounter an obstacle and look at it as an opportunity then you will be grateful for the opportunity to have improve yourself.
All I know is that the simple life the islanders live does not deter from their happiness. Maybe we need to look at where we are and be grateful rather than looking for the next quick fix.
Simply put in both in body and soul, happiness may be as simple as being a bit more simple.
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