I wonder sometimes about how life became so complicated. If we think back to primitive times when our species was just developing, we focused only on our basic needs: nourishment, shelter, safety and reproduction. Sometimes I wish I could live back then, just for a day. I want to know what it’s like not to have to worry about money, a career, my weight and appearance, politics, social media. Of course, I know the early humans had their own concerns during their time. They were likely occupied with attempts to feel safe from predators, hunting and preparing food, providing for and protecting their families and offspring. I’m sure life wasn’t easy, but I just wonder if it was less busy, less draining. I wonder what it would be like to care only about our survival as opposed to caring about things such as success in our careers, good grades or paying rent.
There’s so much pressure these days to make our lives worth remembering, to achieve something remarkable, to be an inspiration to future generations. We’re taught to stand out, but not too much; to be different, but also the same as everyone else. There are so many expectations, so many of them contradictory. We seek fulfillment through society’s approval and acclaim. We use other people’s definitions for success to determine our own and often fail in doing so.
When did life become more about impressing than appreciating? When did we stop living our lives for ourselves? When did we start seeking to be remembered as opposed to seeking to remember? When did life become a race and not a journey?
When we’re constantly focused on gaining more from our lives, we fail to appreciate what we already have. When we’re focused on achieving the expectations that others hold for us, we overlook our own successes. And honestly, just surviving from day to day is something for which we deserve our own applause. That was the sole goal of the first humans. Just to survive. If you were alive by the end of the day, you succeeded. And that was all that mattered.
I truly admire people who can find happiness in simplicity, because it is such a rare occurrence today. I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic the summer after I graduated from high school. It was a beautiful experience. I helped to rebuild homes in villages that had been destroyed by the hurricane that had passed through earlier that year. In these villages, there were no phones, internet, transportation systems, press, franchises. There were just homes made of clay, wood and the occasional scrap of metal. A first-world country might consider this lifestyle “uncivilized” or “poor.” But to me, I had never seen a community so rich in its authenticity. I found that in the absence of the business of my normal life back home, I was able to appreciate every moment more fully. As the fruit’s taste was so much more fresh and flavorful, so too was life. These people, though of course they struggled for food, water, adequate shelter and safety, seemed so at ease. Weightless. When I was taking a water break from shoveling some mud, one of the little girls from the village handed me a wildflower, small and delicate just like the little girl herself. It was a light shade of yellow with a dark center, so simple, but so beautiful. I smiled at the girl and said one of the few Spanish words I knew, “bonito.” She giggled and smiled back at me. The joy in her eyes was contagious in its genuineness. With this tiny gift, she gave me so much more than a flower. She gave me appreciation and gratitude for the simple beauties in life, so many of which I take for granted because I’m so focused on other things that don’t really matter.
In many obvious ways, we have advanced from the early periods of our human existence. But in others, we have grown ignorant. We have forgotten what’s important. It would be offensive to consider this little girl “primitive” in that her life is so simple compared to those of other little girls around the world. She is the opposite of primitive. In fact, she is wiser, she is richer, she is more alive than anyone I’ve ever met. She taught me more in that single moment than I will learn in any college classroom. She taught me what this world has forgotten, she taught me to appreciate the beauty in simplicity.
When you feel as if you’ve failed at something, like flunking a test, missing your chance at a promotion, not being able to pay your phone bill on time, put your hand over your heart. Feel the soft beat of life below your palm. Feel your chest rise and fall in time to your breathing. You are alive. Simple, yes, but vital. There was a time when being alive was all that mattered. Survival was all that mattered. I believe that if we’re still living and appreciating being alive, we’re never failing. If we’re still breathing at the end of the day, that’s a success. Don’t let anyone tell you that it isn’t. Because survival is an achievement, even if we aren’t facing dangerous animals or hunting for food on a daily basis. We have other challenges today, other predators (we are often our own). Appreciate your existence, your survival, your life. Because in the end, that’s all that really matters.
To many, a tiny, yellow flower is nothing more than a flower.
But then again, what more are we than breathing, living organisms? How are we any more real or important? How are we any more alive?
Don’t underestimate yourself. You are alive. You have survived every moment up until this point. That is a success more valuable than any other. A flower is more than just a flower. And you are more than just a person.
Appreciate yourself.
Appreciate the simplicity of being alive.
Write to Live 