Contentment is the greatest wealth

 Savoring simple daily pleasures

I've been quiet for a week or so as we have been over seas. I intended to write from there but due to internet connection and various technical issues it made it too difficult for a technophobe like myself!

 However, I decided to embrace the enforced technology down time and just enjoy the present. 

We were fortunate enough to be in glorious tropical Fiji, one of our most favorite places and somewhere very dear to our hearts as a family. This time, it was just my husband and I. 

I normally devour books when we are away, as there are no other real pressures or time constraints. I read less this time, but I did spend some very rare and much needed quality time with my beloved, and myself. Just to be. To bask in the sun, listen to the splashes of the pool and the waves, the exotic birds and wild life, observe the dazzling seascapes, sunsets, dawns and flora and fauna. To fully and completely stop and recharge. 

I came across a few poignant quotes which I jotted down too, like the title of this blog post. 

The irony is not lost on me that while indulging in a luxurious tropical holiday I found and observed the very essence of contentment and great riches -among the marble tiles and fluffy bathrobes- with the people, their way of life, their positivity and infectious smiles. 

We spoke of the pandemic, and how it had forced Fijians to return to their villages, to work the land again, re unite with family- (their own young children often brought up by grandparents while they work away for weeks at a time with only a few days or hours home before returning to work) to fish, to provide, to slow the pace and to go back to the old ways before tourism exploded. 

We took a walk one morning over to the "Hidden Beach" it was early but already the heat of the day was getting up.  As we crested the hill on the island the hum of the resort fell silent and the mud track led us to what we thought was a wrong turn; A Fijian farmer with his young son and bouncy puppy were quietly working on their crops of taro. When he assured us we were in the right place with such warmth we were welcomed to explore the most pristine, picture book white sand beach I have ever set foot on. The family were in the shade on a rough wooden sleeping platform - Mother, grandmother, young babies. A small vessel pulled up onto the foliage that reached onto the dunes. They explained their village is on the opposite island- one of very few left as untouched villages with no tourism. They come over to work their patch of land for a few days a month then return to their village over the waves. 

The contrast between the resort side of the island and their beach shack was huge, and yet the simplicity of their lives, contentment and pride in their produce was overwhelming. A moment we will treasure and feel privileged to have witnessed so briefly. And we had no phones, no cameras, Just our memories. 

The glossy resorts are not the real Fiji, essentially a 3rd world country with some very basic living conditions for the majority. But a temperate climate means their living is outside much of the time- cooking too. Day beds adorn most make shift porches to catch the cool breeze at siesta. They sit and talk, they laugh. The kids hang out, play, and find entertainment. 

They are not frantically racing and buzzing about as we have come to see as normal. I was humbles as we passed several road side stalls of a rudimentary table set up- a crate and a flat piece of door or cabinet- on them were tiny silver fish piled high and glistening in the sun. No other wares for sale. Just tiny fish. Or chickens tied to a crate under the shade of a tree waiting to be chosen for the pot. Or neatly tied vegetables in bundles lined up.

I cannot imagine living so utterly hand to mouth as these vendors must, on a few dollars a day, but the vast majority of the world do I suppose. 

I don't feel guilty as such for my way of life, but I do feel a duty to take away some lessons. We only landed 24 hours ago (Now with many woolen layers, jeans, crackling fire and thick blankets to keep us warm as we are in the dead of winter suddenly)  Yet my head is spinning already with to do lists, appointments, commitments, work, school schedules, extra curricular activities, grocery shopping, laundry...... I need to step back, slow down and breathe. I also need to acknowledge I put a lot of these pressures on myself. I have high standards- which is great- but not to the detriment of peace and true contentment. 

Despite the bitter cold, my heart sored to have my girls in my arms after a week, to be greeted so warmly by our cats, and to see the color bursting from the plant pots on the deck regardless of the season.  Our aircraft cut though a magnificent wintry orange sunset last night to land safely and welcome us home. 

We confuse the price of material things with the price of happiness. Its only by stepping out of the material mindset that we can appreciate that confusion. 

Contentment is indeed the greatest wealth.