The Need to Live Well

*Posted this originally on my tumblr {patriciamalay.tumblr.com} a few days ago. It's a Holy Monday and soon, days off for everyone. Hope everyone can get rest and really learn to live well. ;)

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I saw an Anthony Bourdain episode where he went to Brittany and thought, wow. I wouldn’t mind living there. Although I know I’m a cosmopolitan girl at heart (and feel like my lungs will collapse without the daily dose of carbon monoxide in the air), the idea of living among people who care about living well attracts me. I watched as Olivier Roellinger explained how he turned his back on the Michelin star system at the age of 51 and hied off to Brittany to open a restaurant cum bakery cum farm on his own terms, without pressure, without fanfare (he grows his own pigs for his own hams, etc.. the pig pen, he explains, doesn’t smell nor are the pigs kept how industrial farms keep animals.. he says happy animals taste different!) Or how another guy who makes sardines (in olive oil and in jars!) said it didn’t matter if he didn’t sell any as long as he did it right. Or how a woman who ran the only legitimate Balon oyster farm scoffed at the thought that other oysters were stealing the name Balon—she didn’t seem to mind the fact that these people might have made more money than her. What worried her was that they were stealing the name when it wasn’t as good as her oysters.

I’m sure an hour-long show can’t do justice to a place or a culture. Besides, all it presented were how Mr. Bourdain saw things and experienced life there. I’m sure there’s crime and irritating things like neighbors that drink too much and make loud noises at 10pm… or something. The point is, I know life can’t be that good. But that shouldn’t stop us from aiming to live our own lives well.

The French seem to have it down pat. Take your time. Don’t do something because you need to… do them because you want to. Money isn’t everything. But passion is.

So, more than ever, all signs point to happiness being a choice, yes? Maybe you don’t live in Brittany, where things seem to be easy. Maybe you’re stuck in hot, stuffy Manila, in a job you hate, making hardly any money. Maybe you’re unhappy in your relationships, surrounded by people you don’t like. Maybe you’re sour about your circumstances and really wish things would improve as soon as you win the lotto. But say things don’t change, people don’t change and circumstances don’t change. What happens then? Can you really choose to be happy, where you are, no matter what?

I’m going to say yes. Sure. Not easily, but it can be done. Perspective changes everything. It’s not a matter of putting on rose-colored glasses and wearing a fake naivete… it’s a matter of seeing things for what they are and choosing to smile anyway. Bloom where you’re planted and know that you’re part of a bigger plan. When you realize that life is more than yourself and your concerns, life begins to feel more important, significant, meaningful. When you stop trying to fix things, struggling to put everything into place, fighting the status quo so you get what you want. When you sit back and tilt your head just so and put your feet up, you will realize that life is good no matter what. The fact that you’re alive and have one more day to live makes you just as blessed as everyone else in Brittany or any place in the world you’d rather be. You’re here, you’re breathing and maybe that can be the start of good things today.

So, what are you choosing to do today?