Picture Perfect

There have been a few people who said that they were envious of George. The situation seems perfect because he is happy. Yes, he is happy, but it’s not because he has a perfect life as compared to the general public. I don’t think the people who desire to have a huge flat screen TV, i-phone, expensive car or a nice job title would think he has a perfect life. If he were that kind of person, I would have never sacrificed what we had in the U.S. It took him years and years to find what he really wanted. He thought long and hard about what he had to sacrifice to achieve happiness.

One of our neighbor friends, who is an Australian, recently left Japan to go back to live in his country. He was convinced that the culture, job, salary and future was not a good fit for him in this country. There were some foreigners who had the same position as George. They warned him about how terrible the job and salary was. It is true, but George is so proud of how he feels and what he has now. Materialistically, this is really nothing compared to what he used to have.

It’s not the money, things, or titles. He found himself…his own definition of happiness. I think he is one of the happiest people in the world. There are more people, including myself, who have not found what we really want in life. We want to look nice (not me, though) by purchasing name brands, to eat delicious cuisine at restaurants, to buy things created by someone and to feel luxurious, while complaining constantly about work and salary. Yet, if we quit our job in search of something better, we continue to complain. It’s easy to forget to appreciate what we have.

When I see him sitting in the yard with the doggies while looking at his volcano, the scene is picture perfect. It tells me that he is one of the happiest people I’ve ever known because he found his importance. I feel fortunate to be around the kind of person who is positive and happy…he even laughs at my first attempt at gardening. By the way, I lost some blueberries. There are only eight now. I have to keep trying to be cleverer than the deer. 

Erika