Tales from the other end of the leash

My thoughts of contemplation whilst enjoying the simple pleasure of walking my dog...

Fullfillment

I've been thinking about fulfillment and how as we grow older, it seems that we require or demand more of the world or of ourselves to feel/be happy. Well it is what I am realising at the moment for me personally, and I am sure it this sentiment echoes for more than a number of people.

When you are young, your experience is limited to your immediate surroundings, learning, navigating and discovering this world both real and imaginary. As you get older, you have several experiences to compare, and it is exactly this comparison which sometimes takes away the simple pleasures that we took for granted as a kid.

E.g When I was a refugee, not yet 4 years old, our family of nine was escaping from the remnants of the defeat of South Vietnam. I recall the only thing that we ate during what would have been quite a tough, long walk from Vietnam to Thailand's refugee camps, was rice and salt.

That's all I can remember eating during that journey, for breakfast or lunch, actually it probably was once a day. Then, as we finally arrived at the camp, I had my first taste of sardines with tomato sauce. Boy, was I was in rapture!! this sweet yet sourly taste, was to me the best thing I ever had in yet my young experience, tasted. As you would have guessed, no more rice and salt to this day, although everytime I occasionally have sardines, I feel a certain sense of contentment to how far I've come since those circumstances.

The ability to seemingly run faster than the wind, the first stolen kiss of your young lovers' lips, and the unforgettable sound of the ocean still resonating in your memory the first time you put your ears to a seashell.

So do I need a nice fancy car, a huge house and expensive clothes to attain my next level of fulfillment? I might if I listen to enough ads.

Although travelling around during the past 3 years, with all of my possesions bundled up in my large heavy back pack (sometimes being poor has its moments ), my wealth wasn't measured by how much I had in my backpack, it came from the people I got to meet and know. True wealth, I realised came from the richness of your relationships.