Response to Blog Post: "Adversity and Optimism"

Reading through my classmates' blog, I stumbled upon a blog post that directly related to my previous post: Adversity and Optimism.

This blog compares the writer's first-hand experience in Africa by what the media often portrays as "Poor Africa". The following paragraph is my favorite:

"Africa has a much lengthier history than the United States or any other society, so it seems unfair that our media judges their standard of life as inadequate. Ghanaian people are happy because they have families to love, a faithful outlook on their existence, and a very different view on success. To succeed in America is to be the best, but in Ghana it is to be content and enjoy life. Many people in Ghana have to worry much more about the basic necessities, but everything happens with a much more relaxed and forgiving pace (which is excellent except when you're trying to get somewhere quickly in a tro-tro)."

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love the African definition of success: to be content and enjoy life. Imagine if that was our only goal! I probably wouldn't be striving for half the things in life right now if I wasn't also considering my "success" in the future. If every moment I lived just to be happy and not the best, I would be putting more effort into my and others' happiness as well.

If I ever go/move to Africa, my most important personal reason would be to live life where it is socially acceptable to live by the life goal to just be happy. But does that mean it's not possible to do that in America? Of course not!

We could prioritize our goals to where our happiness tops the list. While it is harder to do so, it can be done. The first step is to ask yourself what matters more: Your happiness or the rat-race to be number 1? If your happiness lies in being the best, then go for it! My happiness lies in that success as well, I mean, who doesn't feel great when they're the best? But, If I had a choice, I would spend more time and energy helping others, bettering myself, and relaxing.

Recently, I've been researching a lot of blogs about happiness. For my readers, I highly recommend The Positivity Blog. Every blog post gives tips and inspirations to lead your life with happiness. I love this website because it's not fake or generic. I've actually used the advice that this blog gives me and it has helped me to prioritize my happiness first as much as possible.

The concept of prioritizing our happiness probably sounds absurd to us. I know I've been in denial for quite some time thinking that I am happy, so that it's no more a concern of mine and I can actually focus on other things. But, I learned that if I consciously make the effort to try and put happiness first, as much as possible, then it actually works.

Try living life simply. Try to take out just one week, one day or even an hour everyday to just take care of yourself and do what will bring you happiness. See what happens, when you do some cleaning on your priority list. :)