Life on the other side

Seeing my son after two months was absolutely fantastic and yet, in this elation, my heart felt a touch of sadness as it dawned on me that i would not be seeinng him again for another two months.  I guess as you get older, and your motallity stares you in the face each and every moment becomes increasingly precious.  For reasons of my sons health my ex decided to relocate to the picturesque town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. 

It is a university town with the university campus essentially a part of the town and everywhere you go are the youngsters who are starting there lifes journey on their way to adulthood.  Being the center of wine farms in South Africa adds to the atmosphere and tourists keen to experience the taste of the best South African wines, and some woud argue the world, flock to this quant little town in the Western Cape.  

Many claim that the quality of life here is much better than anywhere else in South Africa, but that is subjectivve and I would question by whose standard? In all my years, almost 50 of them, I have been around the world, seen the developed and developing countries and in everyone I have visited people have said that the quality of life is either better here or better there.  And each one is based on his or her perception of "quality" and "liife".

An Arab marching his camel across ancient pathways in the desert with only a tent of cloth and a parched throat for company, will argue for the virtues of his way and a resident of a New York packed tightly in a small apartment which can ony be afforded by holding down two or three jobs would argue for their way of life.  This begs then the question how can quality of life be so very different?

Quality of life is dependent on the person and the experiences of the person their wants, desires, needs, and dreams.  In a world wide survey on the most happiest people in the world a couple of years ago and it came out that the happiest people were in Bangladesh one of the poorest countries in the world. Is this then quality of life? 

I would like to propose that quality of life is determined by the individual and is influenced by what is important to the individual. If an expensive car and big house are important to the person, then that is what will give that person a sense of "quality of life".  If family and loved ones are whats important then being close to family and loved ones will determine the "quality of life". 

As for me I am still trying to make up my mind! :-)   

 
 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 12, 2014 at 10:50 AM

    I very much agree. The essence of life is, indeed, learning to understand what is important to you (evolving and changing with age, experience and perspective), forgetting about others expectations of you, and making each decision, every day, to allow you to fulfil you life's aspirations and passions. One can only hope that the way in which we, as a human race, evolve is in a manner underpinned by an egalitarian thread of a benevolent nature. I'm skeptical though.

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