Hardly an original thought....

I've been thinking lately about what I call "joie de vivre." I've come to the conclusion that some people have it, and some people don't. For those who don't know French, this translates as "joy of life." In the past few months, I've seen a lot of people who have it, and a lot of people who don't. So many people just seem to be bent on acquiring stuff, or getting ahead and they don't concentrate on the details, on being nice to others, or on simply being good people. They would rather spend more money buying something than try to make it themselves. They are not interested in learning, and don't seem happy to be alive. They show little interest in others, or in personal development.

Many of the people in Mongolia had "joie de vivre". Though they had very little materially, they had their families, their animals and the land, and they wanted to advance themselves. They had a calmness and a happiness that many people in the Western world don't have. Though my travels in the past few weeks, I've met people with "joie de vivre" and people without it. The people with it have a more child like quality, a greater curiousity, and an openness to newness. It may be coincidental, but they also seem happier and busier in their lives.

I want to cultivate "joie de vivre" in myself, to be open to new things, and to have that childlike sense of wonder.