It's all relative! Heavy

An image of a miling mother and her child embracing posted by UNICEF caught my attention yesterday.  I would have attached it to this blog, but my technical abilities wouldn't allow for that as of yet! It captured my thoughts regarding what brings us joy and what causes us suffering. A film got me thinking, as is often the case, the film in question was Slumdog Millionaire. I stared in amazement at the two young children covered in excrement running in celebration through a Mumbai dump overcome with excitement at having obtained an autograph from an Indian celebrity! How could anyone feel happiness in those awful living conditions?

Yet the happiness expressed on the faces of the children in the film and on the faces of many children who play with volunteers and support staff in war torn poverty stricken countries appears so genuine and just as real as the joy experienced by well fed, educated youngsters in the care of loving parents in alleged  first world countries.

The prevalence of substance abuse, mental health problems and alcoholism is greater in western countries than in third world countries. It’s almost as if in times when resources are more plentiful we somehow manifest our own discontent and suffering.

I watched in horror at Sky News footage of flooding in Nigeria, where people’s homes were literally being washed away in floods and people competed for food parcels as if their lives depended on them, in fact because their lives depended on them. At that moment in time, the focus was on survival and taking every opportunity to survive because the odds were against them. They were all in the same boat, the future was uncertain there was little option but to live in the NOW.

It appears as if our happiness and our suffering are influenced by not only our own circumstances, but also the circumstances of those around us. If we are surrounded by those who are dealing with the same adversities and struggles as ourselves, perhaps this is supportive, perhaps we are united in our distress and somehow can step up to the plate and eek out small joys amid a desperate situation.

Similarly perhaps distress or our perceptions of what is necessary to make us joyful becomes greater when we are among those who appear to be happy and to have more. The gap between our own sense of satisfaction and resilience and that exhibited by those around us can vary greatly and perhaps its this inequality which fosters loneliness. It is also possible that in more affluent societies as the focus moves from meeting the basic human needs of food clothing and shelter to other needs like love, self-actualisation and safety this can prove to be more complicated and lead to distress.

 By raising our standard of living so too do we raise our expectations of ourselves, others and our needs.